The Russian government has expanded the state program for free medical care, adding three personalized cancer treatment methods to the high‑tech medical care section (HMP‑III) of the state guarantees program. These include CAR‑T therapy, a course of personalized mRNA vaccine therapy, and the peptide vaccine “Oncopept,” announced Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at an operational meeting with deputy prime ministers.
Previously, personalized anti‑tumor vaccines were not covered by the compulsory health insurance (OMS) system and were used mainly in clinical trials or on a commercial basis. The new measure will broaden patient access to these technologies.
“Now, free of charge under the OMS policy, patients will be able to receive treatment using Russian oncovaccines – primarily personalized ones that are developed individually for a specific patient and train the immune system to fight the tumor,” Mishustin noted.
According to a draft document published last month, treatment with mRNA vaccines will be long‑term (over six months) and carried out in several stages, necessitating the establishment of separate financial cost standards. Only federal clinics with appropriate equipment will be able to provide the new types of care.
The document spells out tariffs for each method in detail. The most expensive is CAR‑T therapy, costing 7.03 million rubles. For patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the peptide vaccine “Oncopept” is offered at a cost of 863,700 rubles.
A separate section is devoted to personalized mRNA vaccines: comprehensive diagnostics to determine the tumor’s neoantigen profile is priced at 428,500 rubles; the initiating course of therapy at 5.8 million rubles; a maintenance dose with efficacy monitoring at 342,700 rubles; and without monitoring at 46,800 rubles.
Mishustin also reminded that on April 1, the first patient in Russia received a domestic personalized mRNA vaccine against cancer – a 60‑year‑old resident of the Kursk region with skin melanoma. He is currently undergoing immunotherapy, but despite treatment, the risk of further disease progression remains, so the vaccine is seen as a way to control the disease.
The prime minister emphasized that the cabinet will continue to improve the healthcare system and implement tasks to strengthen public health. Inclusion of innovative treatment methods in the OMS program is intended to make them more accessible to Russian patients.