Opinions & Interviews

Plans to scale up production of new cancer vaccine in Belarus

An archive photo

MINSK, 20 January (BelTA) – Belarus has plans to expand the production of a new cancer vaccine, Deputy Director for Research at the Alexandrov National Cancer Center Sergei Krasny told a BelTA correspondent on the sidelines of the Intellectual Belarus exhibition.

“Today we are presenting the Elenagen anti-cancer vaccine at the exhibition. This is a joint development of the Alexandrov National Cancer Center and an American company. Clinical trials have been completed. This vaccine is meant for ovarian cancers that are resistant to any chemotherapy. The trials showed impressive results: there is nothing like this anywhere else in the world. The vaccine enhanced the effect of chemotherapy. The time to progression of the disease increased 2.5 times, and 40% of people had a long period without progression,” said Sergei Krasny.

He noted that research has been underway for almost three years. “This drug will be registered as an ovarian cancer drug. Currently, it is produced in Belarus in the laboratory setting - 40 vials per week. This is not enough. We plan to expand the production up to 1,000 vials per week next month. In this case there will be enough vaccines to conduct large-scale studies in various types of tumors and for various chronic diseases, since this drug also affects chronic inflammation,” said the researcher.

The Intellectual Belarus exhibition also featured other Belarusian developments in medicine. One of them is a cap for patients suffering from snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. “Sleep apnea is a temporary cessation of breathing that lasts from 10-20 seconds to 2-3 minutes. In severe cases, patients cannot sleep half the night and as a result they feel moody or depressed. The cap will allow effectively restoring sleep and preventing respiratory arrest. This development was registered last year, and this year we plan to put it into clinical practice together with our ENTs and dentists,” Rector of Belarusian State Medical University Sergei Rubnikovich said.

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