NEW YORK, NY – A wave of headlines in early September 2025 claimed Russia’s new cancer vaccine Enteromix achieved “100% efficacy” in clinical trials. The claim spread quickly across social and broadcast media but rests largely on agency statements and secondary reports rather than peer-reviewed data.
What Enteromix is: According to the National Medical Research Radiology Center (NMICR), Enteromix is an oncolytic viral vaccine – a mixture of four non-pathogenic viruses designed to directly destroy tumor cells and stimulate anti-tumor immunity. That differs from personalized mRNA cancer vaccines, which encode patient-specific tumor antigens. Some coverage blurred these separate approaches, fueling confusion.
Where the trials stand: NMICR signaled in December 2024 that Phase I enrollment would begin, and Russian registry summaries (echoed by TASS) list a 48-patient Phase I projected to complete around October 2026. That timeline means human data are still early and likely limited to safety and feasibility endpoints typical for a first-in-human study.
Why “100% efficacy” is questionable: Fact-checkers (AFP/Yahoo) and oncology experts caution there is no publicly available peer-reviewed clinical dataset to support a 100% efficacy figure. Much of the number-driven language appears to come from preclinical results or non-citable briefings rather than published human outcomes.
Official posture inside Russia: The Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) has said Enteromix is “ready for clinical use” after the Health Ministry authorizes it, with early access expected first in colorectal cancer. That phrasing reflects a domestic pathway, not international approval, and it doesn’t substitute for randomized human data.
Bottom line: Enteromix is a legitimate Russian oncolytic vaccine program now in early human testing, alongside separate Russian work on personalized mRNA cancer vaccines. Headlines promising “100% efficacy” overstate what’s been independently verified so far. Expect a long runway – Phase I through 2026 and further trials – before definitive conclusions.
Facts at a Glance
| Item | What we can confirm |
|---|---|
| Product | Enteromix (oncolytic viral cancer vaccine; four non-pathogenic viruses) |
| Developers | NMICR (Russia’s National Medical Research Radiology Center) + Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology (RAS) |
| Mechanism | Oncolytic viruses destroy tumor cells and activate anti-tumor immunity (not mRNA) |
| Indication focus | Initially colorectal cancer; other solid tumors under exploration chelny-izvest.ru |
| Trial status | Phase I slated for 48 patients; projected completion Oct 2026 |
| Regulatory status | FMBA says “ready for clinical use” pending Health Ministry authorization (Russia) |
| “100% efficacy” claim | Widely reported by media; flagged as exaggerated by AFP/Yahoo; no peer-reviewed human data shared |
Q&A: Russia’s “Enteromix” Cancer Vaccine
Is Enteromix an mRNA vaccine?
No. Official NMICR materials describe Enteromix as an oncolytic viral vaccine. Some media simultaneously referenced a separate Russian effort on personalized mRNA cancer vaccines, which likely caused confusion.
Has Enteromix finished clinical trials?
No. Available records indicate Phase I with 48 participants runs into late 2026. Early human data, if any, would be preliminary.
Where did “100% efficacy” come from?
From media summaries of agency briefings and secondary reports; fact-checkers caution that reliable clinical evidence is not publicly available to support that figure.
Will patients get it soon—and for free?
Russian reports say the government intends to offer it free after domestic authorization. That is not equivalent to international approval, and timelines outside Russia are unknown.
How does it compare to mRNA cancer vaccines?
Oncolytic vaccines (like Enteromix) use viruses to lyse tumor cells and stimulate immunity; mRNA vaccines encode tumor-specific antigens to train the immune system. Both are active research areas; neither approach has yet produced a universally effective “cancer vaccine.”
