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A new mRNA vaccine is in a phase 2 clinical trial to test its ability to combat cancer cells in the human body in similar fashion to the coronavirus.
NBC News reports BioNTech, the German pharmaceutical company that worked alongside with Pfizer to produce the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use in the U.S., is currently testing a vaccine aimed to help cancer patients.
Like its coronavirus vaccine, BioNTech's cancer fighting vaccine aims to inject strands of mRNA -- which are microscopic pieces of genetic code that tell the body how to build proteins -- to train the body's immune system to target a specific protein.
With the coronavirus, the vaccine provides the spike protein on the surface of the virus, while with cancer, it could be a protein on the surface of a tumor cell, NBC News reports.
The body can then create antibodies or T cells to fight and destroy the disease, as well as cells that carry it, once the immune system recognizes the protein.
“Messenger RNA is a unique chemical entity,” said Yizhou Dong, an associate professor of pharmaceutics and pharmacology at Ohio State University, via NBC News, though not involved with the BioNTech vaccine himself. “It’s a very simple code that you can apply to any protein or peptide of interest, so it can be very versatile.”
BioNTech was founded 13 years ago with the intention of discovering new cancer therapies, according to CEO Dr. Uğur Şahin.
Anna Blakney, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of British Columbia specializing in mRNA biotechnology, said the COVID-19 pandemic has put a major focus on mRNA technology following the global demand for a vaccine to be produced.
“We now know it’s both advantageous and safe,” said Blakney, who also isn’t personally involved with the BioNTech study, via NBC News. “I don’t think it’s immediately going to solve all these problems, but I do think there are areas that can really take the technology to the next level, and that’s really promising.”