New Delhi/Moscow: The Russian government is apparently considering the plea of a desperate father from Uttar Pradesh in India to include his 21-year-old son – a Stage-IV cancer patient – in its vaccine trials.
Russia is developing an mRNA-based cancer vaccine known as Enteromix – designed to train the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells.
According to news reports, the vaccine uses a personalized approach, based on the genetic profile of a patient’s tumour. The vaccine has apparently shown promising results in initial trials by shrinking tumours and slowing their growth.
Manu Srivastava from Lucknow said that when he got to know about the vaccine, he wrote to Moscow. He also wrote to the Indian government to help expedite the process.
Srivastava claims that he has been informed that his request is under consideration.
“I requested them, since my son had stage four cancer here. He’s being treated here, but the doctors haven’t been fully responsive. I was worried as there was no certainty. So, when I learned that a vaccine had been developed in Russia, proving very effective in treating cancer, I sent letters to the Government of India and the Russian government,” Srivastava told ANI.
“The reply came back saying my request was under consideration and the Russian government had sent it to their Ministry of Health for further processing,” he added.
Enteromix’s initial target is colorectal cancer, with future potential for other cancers like glioblastoma and melanoma.
Russia announced in September that Enteromix has demonstrated 100 per cent efficacy and safety in initial human trials. According to media reports, the vaccine made patients experience tumour shrinkage and no serious side effects.
Enteromix was born from years of coordinated research by Russia’s National Medical Research Radiological Centre and the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology. The vaccine leverages mRNA technology, similar to the platform that enabled rapid COVID-19 vaccine development, to generate a custom immune response against cancer cells. The personalized nature of Enteromix means each dose is tailored to the individual’s tumour genomics, a biomarker-driven approach enabled by sophisticated mutation-profiling algorithms.
Unlike other conventional cancer vaccines, Enteromix is said to have a fully personalized design where every vial is crafted based on the genetic makeup of an individual’s tumour, improving target specificity and immune engagement. Its mRNA platform allows rapid development and scalability, something decades-long efforts in cancer vaccines have lacked.
