Amazon has developed cancer vaccines in partnership with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, US, according to a report published by Business Insider. The vaccines would address breast and skin cancer, also known as melanoma.
According to a summary posted on Clinicaltrials.govthe trial start date was June 9, 2022, and the estimated completion date is November 1, 2023. The Phase 1 trial is now seeking 20 patients over the age of 18 to test a “US FDA Regulated Drug Product.”
The study was confirmed by an Amazon representative.
Jeff Bezos’ company is working on cancer vaccines
“Amazon is contributing scientific and machine learning expertise to a partnership with Fred Hutch to explore the development of a personalized treatment for certain forms of cancer. It’s very early days, but Fred Hutch recently received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a Phase I clinical trial, and it’s unclear whether or not it will be successful,” an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider. , quoted by Interesting Engineering.
“This will be a long process spanning several years; should it proceed, we will be open to collaborating with other health and life sciences organizations that may also be interested in similar efforts,” the spokesperson added.
Other contributions of the company in the field of health
Amazon has also ventured into the healthcare sector before these cancer vaccines. In June 2021, the company launched Amazon Care, offering Seattle employees remote home health care such as virtual video chats with doctors, delivery of medications to their door or favorite pharmacy, and a care chat via messenger.
This latest vaccine treatment is said to have emerged from Amazon’s discreet lab called Grand Challenge. Amazon’s cancer team has reportedly made so much progress that it was able to move out of the Grand Challenge unit to operate under the supervision of vice president of devices Robert Williams, people familiar with the matter told Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
The future of cancer treatments
What does this mean for Amazon? It means the already all-encompassing company could add a new service under its belt: treating cancer. If he succeeds in doing so, the financial benefits to him will be substantial.
The question that arises now is whether or not we want a multinational technology company to tackle one of the most serious and deadly diseases. Should cancer treatments be left only to doctors and other health professionals? Only time will tell how these cancer vaccines and this initiative will work.