The study drugs

Cancer treatments that work by activating the immune system are known as immunotherapies. The investigational immunotherapies being evaluated in these clinical trials fall into two categories:

• next-generation immunotherapies
  
• personalised mRNA cancer vaccines

What are ‘candidate’ or ‘investigational’ treatments?

Any medicine that is described as ​‘candidate’ or ​‘investigational’ means it is still in development and not approved for use outside clinical trials.

Immunotherapies became part of NHS cancer treatment in the 2010s. They work by activating the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells. They have revolutionised the treatment of some cancers. But not all patients or cancer types respond to current immunotherapies. Building on the original science behind the first immunotherapies, BioNTech is developing a pipeline of next-generation immunotherapy candidates. The aim is to be more effective against more types of cancers.

Cancer vaccines are a kind of immunotherapy that is still in development. Patients can currently only access them through clinical trials. Personalised mRNA cancer vaccines are designed to teach and activate the body’s immune system to recognise, hunt down and attack cancer cells. They can be tailored to the patient or patients receiving it, with the aim that the immune system is taught to recognise their specific cancer.

Traditional vaccines, such as for flu or COVID-19, are designed to prevent people getting the illness. Cancer vaccines are different. They are being evaluated primarily as candidate treatments in people who already have cancer. Some trials are also testing if they can reduce the chance of cancer coming back.