Following a contract struck by the Rishi Sunak administration with the German biopharmaceutical company BioNTech to carry out clinical trials, cancer vaccine trials will start in the UK in 2023. According to The Telegraph, the clinical trial enrollment for the British patients is scheduled to begin in the fall.
According to the article, a lab in Cambridge with about 70 scientists will be established to lead the research. In addition, BioNTech said that London would become the location of its UK headquarters.
The cancer vaccines made by BioNTech are not preventive. That is, a public vaccination effort like the COVID-19 or smallpox immunisation programmes cannot be said to prevent cancer in the traditional sense. The BioNTech cancer vaccines, instead, are designated as ‘therapeutic tools’ to fight already diagnosed cancer and advanced tumours.
It is expected that once the vaccines are found to be safe and effective, as many as 10,000 doses will be given to UK patients by 2030.
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