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Why cure cancer in a day when you can treat it for life? Cancer, after all, has become the golden goose of the global pharmaceutical industry. However, the recent announcement by Russian president, Vladimir Putin could upend the multi-billion-dollar industry built on the painstakingly slow and lucrative art of ‘treating’ cancer. The Russian health ministry claims that it has developed universal cancer vaccine that shows promising initial results. Once released, the vaccine would be made as accessible as over-the-counter medicines.
The vaccine will be made available for Russian citizens free-of-cost from 2025.
The news has stirred mixed public reactions, with some expressing optimism, while others remain skeptical about the claims. In a video discussing Russia's cancer vaccine, one comment stood out- “I am optimistic but skeptical. Inventing vaccine for cancer seems too good to be true”. Another comment read- “why there are no details from the clinical trials?” Among the flood of comments, one emotional comment stood out. A user shared their personal story of losing his mother to cancer. They had lost their savings, their car, even their house to ‘treat’ their mother.
His doubt was evident. He failed to comprehend how a simple, free vaccine might have saved his mother's life. The narrative exposes a painful fact while also raising a crucial question: how will vaccine development affect the global pharmaceutical business, which has traditionally relied on the profitability of cancer treatments?
Cancer is a collection of multiple diseases, with ever-changing conditions. There is no specific definition to cancer. Any uncontrolled and wary cell growth in human body is termed as cancer. It can appear in any organ—lungs, brain, breasts—and thrive on its ability to evade detection. The human immune system struggles to identify cancer cells because they mimic healthy ones.
This is why early detection of cancer is difficult and expensive as cancers usually go unnoticed until advance stages progresses. Cancer cells can mutate easily, meaning no two cancer cases are exactly the same. A treatment which might work for one patient might miserably fail for the other.
This is the reason why scientists have not been able to develop cancer vaccine for decades, because there is no one-size-fit-all vaccine for cancer. The gap has allowed pharmaceutical industry to pour resources into endless ‘breakthroughs’ each more expansive than the last. But this is where Russia’s mRNA-based cancer vaccine comes into picture.
The vaccine is built on mRNA technology, which was popularized in the COVID-19 vaccines.
mRNA, or messenger RNA, is a type of molecule found in cells. It carries instructions from DNA to the cell. The instructions dictate cells how to build specific proteins.
In the newly-developed cancer vaccine, mRNA instructs DNA to mimic a protein of cancer cell. Once the protein is created, the immune system recognizes it as threat. White blood cells, body’s natural defenders against harmful bacteria, are then activated. The process trains immune system to attack cancer cells. The external injection of mRNA is important because it exposes the hidden cancer-causing cells, which remain concealed under normal circumstances. mRNA brings these proteins into bloodstream and makes them identifiable to white blood cells by tagging the cancer cells.
Once the cells are trained to recognize and attack a particular cancer marker, it becomes adept at targeting similar cancer cells through the body.
This approach is unique and effective because of its personalization capabilities without modifying the vaccine itself. Since the cancer-causing proteins vary from patient to patient, the vaccine mimics the specific protein unique to each individual’s cancer. This allows the immune system to target the patient’s cancer more effectively, while still using the same vaccine for everyone. This approach is innovative and sneaky, but is a groundbreaking technique for treating cancer.
The global cancer market valued over $220 Billion last year. The market is expected to grow at compound annual growth rate of nearly 9%.
Image: Global Oncology market share
Reference: Fortune Business Insider
In 2023, cancer treatment costs in North America were approximately $5.6 trillion, projected to rise to $13.8 trillion by 2050. A significant portion of this burden stems from treating the most expensive cancer type, TBL (Trachea, Bronchus, and Lung), which costs $3.8 trillion on average.
The pharmaceutical industry has long benefited from these high costs. In the United States, the sales of cancer drugs doubled from $52.8 billion in 2010 to $103.5 billion in 2019, with oncology drug revenues growing by 70%. The average cost of these drugs hovers around $150,000 per year, making them accessible only to a privileged few. Companies defend this price with claims of extensive R&D investments for cancer therapy.
However, the research by Public Eye found out that big pharma companies have profit margin of 40%-90% on cancer treatments. While private companies reap the benefits of expensive cancer treatments, the economic toll on nations is devastating. The combined losses from cancer-related treatment costs in some regions are predicted to rival the 2020 GDP of China. It is the direct reflection of the unsustainable burden placed on national economies.
The Russian vaccine has the potential to shatter this business model. If successful, the vaccine could render many expensive treatments obsolete. However, one can also not ignore the lack of information about the new vaccine.
Russia has not disclosed any finer details about the vaccine. The scientific evidence, pre-clinical trial reports, test results- nothing has been released to the public. This secrecy has resulted in speculations from scientists, researchers and public from around the world. However, if the vaccine is effective, the global pharmaceutical business will be shattered, particularly in the United States. Currently housing six of the top ten oncology companies in the world, the U.S. has turned cancer treatment into a lucrative business model.
Additionally, the United States has the highest number of global cancer patients, which has driven the cost of treating cancer in North America to the highest in the world.
However, even if the vaccine is effective, its implementation is still difficult, especially in the context of U.S.- Russia trade relations.
The Russian-Ukraine war has strained the trade ties. The U.S. accounts for just 3% of Russia’s total trade and the trade volume between the two nations has dropped by $4.57 Billion. Given the tense relationship, the possibility of Russia selling its vaccine to the U.S., which has highest number of cancer patients in the world, are slim. This raises questions about how accessible the vaccine will truly be to the populations that need it most.
The vaccine for cancer is a groundbreaking discovery. If successful, the vaccine will offer real chance to cure cancer and free millions of people from expensive, lifelong treatments. The vaccine also holds the potential the disrupt the global pharmaceutical industry, which has thrived on making cancer treatment a costly and ongoing process. The Russian vaccine also comes with its own set of doubts. Russian government has not shared enough details about the scientific proof and clinical trials of the vaccine. The political tensions might also influence the effective distribution of vaccine to the population who needs it the most.
There is another concern. If cancer becomes curable, the consumption of alcohol, cigarette and drugs might also rise. Without the fear of cancer, we might be posed with new health challenges. But let’s be real—this is the least of the concerns for an industry more worried about what happens when their billion-dollar pipelines dry up. After all, why cure cancer in a day when treating it for a lifetime is so much more profitable.
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