A New Initiative to Fund Cancer Vaccine Clinical Trials: Dr. Disis Weighs In

The US National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health have partnered to raise nearly $200 million to fund cancer vaccine clinical trials, including mRNA-based approaches for patients at high risk for tumor recurrence.

Dr. Nora Disis

In a recent article from Lancet Oncology, Dr. Nora Disis, Director of the Cancer Vaccine Institute (CVI), called the initiative a promising start, but commented that the scale of the investment remains small compared to large-scale public health efforts: “$200 million will go fast without a clear strategy…Operation Warp Speed spent $12 billion on the research, development, and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines. Here we are talking $200 million for all cancer vaccines. It is a start, but we need more investment.”

She also emphasized the importance of building sustainable infrastructure. Collaboration across multicenter trials and tissue and blood banks must occur for the development and manufacture of cancer vaccines.

“My hope is that this initiative marks the beginning of sustained federal support to finally bring cancer vaccines into routine clinical care,” Dr. Disis concluded.

Read the full article here:

TLO US cancer vaccines research at “tipping point” as NCI backs $200 million initiative (N.

Download • 106KB