Coronavirus has revolutionized vaccine development and research, thanks primarily to mRNA vaccines.
The world’s first mRNA vaccines are the Comirnaty coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, and the Moderna Covid vaccine. The two vaccines reached people’s arms from the lab in record time, with development, clinical testing and licensing dropping within a year. But it does not stop there with Coronavirus vaccines, rather mRNA vaccines are manufactured for other diseases, for example, promising tumor developments – read In an article published in the World Economic Forum.
Vaccines already exist that protect against viral infections that can cause malignancies. For example, there is a vaccine against hepatitis B, which may be associated with some liver tumors, and there is also an effective vaccine against the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer.
But due to the flexibility that mRNA-based vaccines provide, nonvirus vaccines can also be used against cancers.
Some types of tumors contain antigens or proteins that are not found in normal cells. If we can train our immune system to find these tumor-related proteins, then the immune system is supposed to kill cancer cells.
BioNTech is already conducting clinical trials to use mRNA vaccines in oncology. For example, results are promising in patients with advanced melanoma. CureVac is developing a vaccine against a specific type of lung cancer and is also conducting clinical trials here.
