A cancer vaccine will be available by 2030. This was announced by the pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer. Moderna has announced that vaccines against cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases will also be available.
By 2030, the cancer vaccine will be available
Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer have announced that the first personalized mRna vaccines against cancer, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases will be available by 2030. The acceleration of the production of these vaccines has matured thanks to the experience derived from the anti-Covid vaccines. Moderna’s chief physician, Paul Burton, said that in just 5 years, treatments for all kinds of conditions will be available. “We will have the cancer vaccine and it will be highly effective and save hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives. I think we will be able to offer personalized cancer vaccines against different types of cancer to people around the world“, Burton said in an interview with the Guardian. However, scientists have warned that a high level of investment is needed to maintain rapid progress.
How would personalized cancer vaccines work?
To vaccinate someone against cancer, doctors start by taking a biopsy of the patient’s tumor before using genetic sequencing to identify mutations. An algorithm identifies which mutations are causing the cancer to grow and could activate the immune system. An mRNA molecule is produced with instructions for making antigens that cause an immune response. The mRNA, once injected, is translated into proteins identical to those found on cancer cells. The immune cells then collide with and destroy the cancer cells carrying the same proteins.
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