Russia offers free access to domestic skin cancer vaccine

Russian citizens can access a domestically produced personalized skin cancer vaccine free of charge through mandatory medical insurance, according to Denis Logunov, director of the Gamaleya Center in Moscow.

The vaccine, named NeoOncovac, was co-developed by the Gamaleya Center and the Blajin National Medical Oncology Research Center, with manufacturing handled by the National Medical Research Center for Radiology. It is specifically designed to treat adult patients suffering from inoperable or metastatic melanoma.

The Russian Ministry of Health approved the drug for clinical use in April. Since then, the vaccine has been administered to two patients, including a 60-year-old man from the Kursk region. Reports from July indicated that the mRNA-based vaccine generated protective immunity against personalized tumor antigens, with immune system responses described as “encouraging and promising.”