• Experimental immunotherapy modelled on PD-1 treatment to be tested in advanced melanoma patients
Michael Olugbode in Abuja
Cuban scientists have reached a potentially significant milestone in the country’s long-running effort to develop home-grown cancer treatments, with an experimental drug known as 2C12 ready to enter clinical testing in patients suffering from advanced melanoma.
The drug was developed by researchers at Cuba’s Centre for Molecular Immunology (CIM). It was designed around an approach similar to that used by pembrolizumab, an established immune-checkpoint therapy used internationally against several cancers, including unresectable or metastatic melanoma.
The development is attracting attention because 2C12 is moving beyond laboratory research towards testing in human beings — the stage at which its safety, tolerability, and potential therapeutic benefit must be established before any claim can be made about its effectiveness.
