The first patient to receive a personalised mRNA vaccine against melanoma has shown small shifts in the production of key cytokines, Alexander Gintsburg, scientific director of the Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, told RIA Novosti. He stressed that major immunological results are still ahead, with about 10 doses of the drug planned.
The patient is at home in the Kursk region under the supervision of a regional oncology clinic, Gintsburg said. “The first… small shifts in terms of the production of the necessary cytokines are being observed,” he explained.
He also expressed hope that a second patient would receive a vaccine after the May holidays, after which they would be enrolled in the treatment.
In April, Russia’s National Medical Research Centre for Radiology used a personalised anti-tumour mRNA vaccine called NeoOncovaq for the first time in clinical practice. The drug was given to a patient with skin melanoma. The project was carried out in collaboration with the Gamaleya Centre and the Blokhin National Medical Research Centre of Oncology. The health ministry approved NeoOncovaq for clinical use in late 2025.
That same month, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the government had added a course of personalised mRNA vaccine therapy, a peptide vaccine Onkopept, and CAR-T therapy to the compulsory health insurance programme. Previously, such technologies were available only in clinical trials or on a commercial basis. The change will expand patient access to these treatments.
Melanoma is a malignant tumour that most often arises from melanocytes, the skin cells responsible for producing melanin pigment. It is dangerous because of its rapid growth and early spread of metastases. Around 320,000 new cases are diagnosed worldwide each year.
