Funded by ELEA Laboratories and Hugo Sigman, Argentine scientists have recently developed a new vaccine that could be effective in the treatment of lung tumours. Based on the promising results obtained during the initial stages of development, the vaccine is now expected to be tested in advanced clinical trials before its final approval by local health authorities.

A new vaccine for the treatment of cancer could be soon on the market in Argentina, thanks to a thirteen years joint venture between scientists from Universities of Buenos Aires and Quilmes, the Roffo Institute, the Garrahan Hospital, the National Academy of Medicine, and ELEA Laboratories. During the coming months, a phase III clinical trial is expected to take place in a group of 760 adults from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, India, Malaysia and Singapore. European patients are also expected to enrol in this study in a latter stage of the trial. Phase III clinical trials are considered to be a final -although crucial- stage before a drug can be cleared by national health authorities.

This is an excellent example of a joint research and development project between a private company and the public sector. While privately held ELEA Laboratories has committed its financial resources to local scientists by funding a major part of their research, the project still belongs to the Strategic Areas Programme of the National Agency of Scientific and Technological Promotion.

Most members of the research team involved in the project have agreed on the fact that one of its major achievements is that the vaccine has been developed almost entirely in a Latin American country.