‘Groundbreaking’ cancer and heart disease vaccine ‘could save millions of lives’
Experts hope new vaccines will be ready by end of decade
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Groundbreaking new vaccines to treat a range of diseases including cancer could be ready by 2030 and save millions of lives, experts have said.
Moderna, a leading pharmaceutical firm that made a Covid jab, said the new cancer vaccines are showing “tremendous promise” and have condensed nearly two decades of progress into 12 to 18 months.
It is hoped the jabs will be able to treat cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases and “all sorts” of other conditions, Dr Paul Burton, Moderna’s chief medical officer, said.
“We will have that vaccine and it will be highly effective, and it will save many hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives,” he told The Guardian.
“I think we will be able to offer personalised cancer vaccines against multiple different tumour types to people around the world.”
A number of other pharmaceutical companies are also working on vaccines aimed at tackling cancer and other diseases.
In January it was announced that cutting-edge research into developing personalised mRNA vaccines for cancer patients will be accelerated following the UK’s successful Covid-jab rollout.
BioNTech, the German firm that co-produced a Covid vaccine with Pfizer, will partner with the government to deliver 10,000 personalised therapies to patients in the UK by 2030.
Under the plans, cancer patients will get early access to trials exploring personalised mRNA therapies, including cancer vaccines. Such vaccines will contain a “genetic blueprint” to stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells.
Current treatments for cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, can attack healthy cells as well as cancerous ones, resulting in adverse side effects and illness.
The cancer trials could start by the second half of this year.
Access to the trials will be through the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, which is being developed by NHS England and Genomics England.
The launch pad will help to rapidly identify large numbers of cancer patients who could be eligible for the trials and explore potential vaccines across multiple types of cancer.
The partnership will aim to help patients with early and late-stage cancers. If successfully developed, cancer vaccines could become part of standard care.
In 2019, there were 327,174 new cases of cancer diagnosed in England. Incidence rates rose between 1995 and 2013 but have fallen slightly since then, according to figures from the House of Commons Library.
Incidence is 23 per cent higher in men than in women, the research said. There is still no cure for the disease.
Current treatments for cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, can attack healthy cells as well as cancerous ones, resulting in adverse side effects and illness.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments