Free cancer vaccines for all: Russia promises no-cost treatment for terminally ill patients

Russia has reportedly developed its own vaccine against cancer and plans to distribute it free of charge to patients.

According to a report by Russian news agnecy TASS, the mRNA vaccine was developed in collaboration with several research centres in the country, and is reportedly planned to be released for general circulation in early 2025.

Speaking on the vaccine, Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Alexander Gintsburg told TASS that the vaccine's pre-clinical trials had shown that it supresses tumour development and prevents potential metastases.

Meanwhile, Andrey Kaprin, General Director of the Radiology Medical Research Center of the Russian Ministry of Health, told Radio Rossiya that the vaccine would be distributed free of charge.

The news comes months after Russian President Vladimir Putin, in February this year, said that Russia was close to creating cancer vaccines, something that would revolutionise treatment of the terminal disease world over.

In a televised address, the Russian President had said, "We have come very close to the creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation."

"I hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual therapy," he had added.

At the time, Putin did not provide any details of the vaccine or the types of cancer the proposed vaccine would target.

The news comes at a time when a number of countries and companies are working to develop their own cancer vaccines.

Last year, the UK government signed an agreement with Germany-based vaccine major BioNTech to launch clinical trials for "personalised cancer treatments" by 2030.

Similarly, pharma giants Moderna and Merck Co are also developing experimental cancer vaccines.