The president of Russia Vladimir Putin claimed today Wednesday that Russian scientists are close to creating a cancer vaccine, which will soon be available for sufferers.

In televised remarks, Putin said “we have come very close to creating so-called cancer vaccines or new-generation immunomodulatory drugs.”

“I hope they will soon be used effectively as personalized treatment methods,” he added, speaking at a forum on future technologies.

Putin did not specify what types of cancer the Russian vaccines will target, nor how.

Several countries and pharmaceutical companies are trying to create cancer vaccines. Last year the UK government signed a deal with Germany-based BioNTech to start clinical trials for “personalised cancer treatments”, aiming to reach 10,000 patients by 2030.

Drug companies Moderna and Merck & Co are developing an experimental cancer vaccine that in mid-stage research has shown to reduce the chance of melanoma coming back or dying –the deadliest skin cancer– by half after three years of treatment.

There are currently six approved vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes many cancers, including cervical cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as vaccines against hepatitis B (HBV ), which can lead to lung cancer.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Russia developed its own Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 which it sold in some countries, although at home it faced a general reluctance of people to get vaccinated.

Putin himself was inoculated with the Sputnik vaccine in an attempt to convince the world of the efficacy and safety of the formulation.