AstraZeneca Plc is considering developing cancer vaccines, entering one of the most active areas of oncology research where questions remain about the technology’s broad application.
Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot told analysts at the European Society For Medical Oncology’s conference in Madrid, which ended Tuesday, that cancer vaccines have been a topic of many internal discussions.
"Our R&D team has done a lot of work in the last couple of years on mRNA technology. We believe we can actually do something in the field, and you’ll hear more about this in the months and years to come," he said.
The UK drugmaker has experience with vaccines after developing a Covid-19 shot with Oxford University. Its main focus has been drugs for cancer and cardiometabolic conditions, as well as rare diseases.
Dave Fredrickson, executive vice president of AstraZeneca’s oncology business unit, said Saturday that the company must operate in areas where it can succeed.
"Today, in the personalized cancer vaccine space, there are other companies that are in a better position to be able to advance that science at pace," he said. He added that AstraZeneca’s infectious diseases group is interested in non-personalized vaccines.
Personalized cancer vaccines are tailored to each patient’s tumor. Non-personalized vaccines would be used to treat a wide variety of patients with a similar cancer.
A personalized melanoma cancer vaccine developed by Moderna and Merck & Co. reduced the likelihood of patients’ tumors returning by 42%.
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