The The team behind the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine Pfizer/BioNTech says personalized mRNA cancer vaccines could be available within the next decade.
In an interview with BBC News, Professors Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci revealed that they have been working on a cancer vaccine since before the pandemic and have had some promising results.
The husband and wife team co-founded German company BioNTech in 2008 to explore new mRNA-based technologies for cancer treatment.When the pandemic erupted, they partnered with Pfizer using the same approach to develop one of the most effective COVID-19 vaccines available.
The duo has now turned their attention back to developing a cancer vaccine.
We believe that a cure for cancer or to change the lives of cancer patients is within our reach,» Professor Tureci told BBC News. According to Professor Sahin’s predictions, this will happen before 2030.»
The mRNA acts as a «fingerprint» and allows you to tell the body to produce the drug or vaccine … when used as a vaccine, mRNA is an imprint equivalent to the enemy’s wanted manifesto – in this case, tumor antigens that differentiate cancer cells from normal cells,» said Professor Tureci.
As scientists, we always hesitate to say that we will have a cure for cancer. We have achieved several crucial results and will continue to work on them,» he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent need for a vaccine have focused attention on mRNA vaccines, but research into mRNA cancer vaccines has been going on for nearly 30 years.In 1996, the first study looked at RNA-pulsed dendritic cells in vitro.
The results of the first clinical trials reported only modest clinical efficacy. However, technological advances have improved the structure, stability and methods of mRNA delivery, enabling advances in this field of research.
Multiple clinical trials are currently enrolling patients diagnosed with various cancers, including pancreatic, prostate, and colorectal cancer, as well as melanoma, glioblastoma, breast cancer, and lung cancer. As of February 2022, 17 clinical trials of mRNA-based vaccines were underway, 8 of which were conducted by BioNTech.
The company is conducting 2 clinical trials of its BNT111 vaccine, one with and the other without cemiplimab, in melanoma patients. A phase 1/2 trial is underway to evaluate a personalised vaccine for prostate cancer in combination with cemiplimab, while a phase 2 trial is evaluating the use of a vaccine for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in combination with pembrolizumab.The latter vaccine is also being studied in combination with anti-CD40 antibodies to solid tumors positive for HPV-16. Other vaccines being developed by BioNTech target non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), triple-negative breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and other solid tumors.
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Source — https://www.univadis.it/viewarticle/i-fondatori-di-biontech-prevedono-che-i-vaccini-anti-cancro-saranno-disponibili-prima-del-2030