Will the mRNA cancer vaccine come true?

In an interview last Sunday, local time,German biotech company BioNTech (BIOTECH) co-founder couple Wu Sha Xin andÖzlem Tireghi said that mRNA vaccine technology could be used to help destroycancer cells, meaning that a cancer vaccine could be available by 2030.

　　BioNTech is a German biotechnologycompany whose main business is the development and production of effectiveimmunotherapies to treat serious diseases for specific patients. BioNTech hadbeen working on an mRNA cancer vaccine before the outbreak of the new crownoutbreak. However, following the global spread of the outbreak, the companyturned to the development of a New Crown vaccine.

　　During the New Crown outbreak, the mRNAvaccine developed by Pfizer in conjunction with BioNTech was the first NewCrown pneumonia vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Atthat time, the vaccine demonstrated 91% efficacy and has since been shown toreduce hospitalizations and deaths due to New Crown pneumonia.

　　In addition, Moderna's mRNA Neocrownvaccine was approved by the FDA for emergency use, directly driving the mRNAvaccine to the top of the MIT Technology Review's list of "Top 10Breakthrough Technologies in the World" in 2021.

　　Since then, many pharmaceutical companieshave entered the market, hoping to expand the indications for mRNA vaccines toother infectious diseases, oncology and other areas. Scientists say one of thepossible effects of the pandemic will be to accelerate the invention of cancervaccines.

　　According to BioNTech's website, thecompany now has several cancer vaccines in clinical trials. It has a pipelineof more than 30 products, about 15 oncology-related, and it is developingtreatments for rectal cancer, melanoma and other cancer types. The success ofPfizer and BioNTech in developing a new crown vaccine also boosted thecompany's work in developing cancer vaccines, Wu Sha Xin said.

　　In terms of broad classification, tumorvaccines can be distinguished as preventive tumor vaccines and therapeutictumor vaccines, some industry insiders said. Among them, the most typical andwidely known preventive tumor vaccine is HPV vaccine, which prevents theoccurrence of cervical cancer.

　　However, as a therapeutic vaccine, mRNAcancer vaccines are still more difficult to develop. Unlike traditionalvaccines made from weaker versions of the virus, mRNA technology uses only thegenetic code of the virus, says vaccine expert Taurina. When mRNA enters thebody, it also enters the cells, causing them to make the relevant antigens.Therefore, the mRNA vaccine is not a breakthrough in the mechanism of vaccineaction, that is, it stimulates the immune system much more strongly, andwhether it can achieve the signature of cancer vaccine is yet to be tested in practice.

　　In addition, because the cancer cellsthat make up a tumor may contain many different proteins, making it extremelydifficult to create a vaccine that targets all cancer cells but not healthytissue. "The immune mechanism of a vaccine uses the immune system's immuneresponse against a foreigner. The immune system also has an immune mechanismagainst its renegade self, the cancer cell, but it's not the same as againstthe alien self. So, there are mechanistic limitations to developing a cancer vaccineagainst one's own cells with a vaccine principle built on a mechanism againstthe alien self, and the difficulty is here." Taurina further explained.

　　For questions about the timing of thevaccine's launch and whether it is effective, Beijing Business News contactedBioNTech, but had not received a response by press time. BioNTech is cautiousabout this, though. Tireghi said that as a scientist, we cannot say"cure" cancer lightly, but many breakthroughs have been made so far.

　　In fact, cancer vaccines have alreadybeen developed by companies, and in April 2010, the FDA approved the firsttherapeutic vaccine, Provenge, for the treatment of prostate cancer. ButProvenge did not deliver disruptive efficacy. Clinical trial results showedthat Provenge only extended overall patient survival by 4.1 months compared tothe control group.

　　But sales of Provenge did not meetexpectations, and its development company, Dendreon, ended up in bankruptcy.Provenge is an autologous cellular immunotherapy, which requires the use of apatient's own immune cells to manufacture, and is expensive, costing up to$93,000 per course of treatment. Abiraterone and enzalutamide, which also treatprostate cancer, were launched in 2011 and 2012, respectively, at half the priceof Provenge.

　　It is worth noting that in addition toBioNTech, in the field of mRNA drug therapy, companies such as Moderna, MerckSharp & Dohme, GlaxoSmithKline, S Microbiology, and Abo Bio have laid out.As of March 31, 2022, there are 56 global mRNA drugs entering the clinicalpipeline, and the R&D is mainly focused on vaccine field. The Pharmsnapdata platform, a global new drug intelligence repository of Smart Bud, showsthat BioNTech and Moderna are two companies at the forefront, with colorectalcancer, melanoma and other indications under development in clinical phase 2.

　　In mid-October, Moderna reportedlyannounced a collaboration with international pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp& Dohme to jointly develop and market a personalized precision therapycancer vaccine to advance Moderna's mRNA technology in combination with MerckSharp & Dohme's PD-1 oncology therapy Keytruda (K-drug) to explore thetreatment of high-risk melanoma patients. Under the agreement, Merck Sharp& Dohme will pay Moderna $250 million.