The personalized anti‑tumour mRNA vaccine NeoOncovac, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology together with the National Medical Research Centre of Radiology and the Blokhin National Medical Research Centre of Oncology, has been administered for the first time in Russian clinical practice. The first recipient was a 60‑year‑old resident of the Kursk region diagnosed with skin melanoma. Synthesis of the vaccine for a second patient has already begun. The Ministry of Health granted approval for clinical use of NeoOncovac at the end of 2025.
The ministry clarified that the patient is undergoing immunotherapy. Despite treatment, a high risk of disease progression remains, and standard therapeutic options will be extremely limited. In this situation, the use of the personalized vaccine is considered a means of disease control.
The drug is administered in the Department of Personalized Biotechnological Treatment Methods according to a staged schedule: on days 1, 8 and 15 with dose escalation, followed by once every 21 days. A total of up to ten administrations are planned.
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko announced that work is nearing completion to include the personalized cancer vaccine in the compulsory health insurance programme. According to him, the new technology will soon become available to Russians who need such treatment for medical indications. “This is not a panacea, but an additional tool in the hands of oncologists,” RBC quoted Murashko as saying.
Earlier, at the end of 2024, the Ministry of Health’s chief oncologist Andrey Kaprin stated that the vaccine would be free for patients, with its production for an individual patient costing the state 300,000 roubles. Commenting on the first use of NeoOncovac, Kaprin added that if the drug is successfully launched for the treatment of skin melanoma, possibilities for expanding the indications for such vaccines will be considered.
