BioNTech won fame and fortune for its pioneering Covid-19 vaccine. Now the German biotech has achieved promising early-stage results in treating pancreatic cancer. Beating this virulent and intractable disease is a holy grail for cancer scientists. After several false dawns, therapeutic cancer vaccines could be heading for prime time.
It is no coincidence that BioNTech aims to combat cancer, as well as viruses. Its lab-synthesised messenger RNA carries the genetic information needed to make proteins. Those molecules can train immune systems to attack disease-causing agents — whether cancer cells or infectious viruses. In the case of BioNTech’s pancreatic cancer treatment, a vaccine is tailored to the specific mutations in the patient’s tumour.
The trial results showed that half the patients remained cancer-free 18 months after surgery and vaccination. Though the trial only involved 16 patients, it offers rare encouragement to pancreatic cancer sufferers. This is one of the most lethal forms of cancer. Just 11 per cent of patients survive longer than five years, according to the American Cancer Society.