Amazon vaccines will soon be a reality if recent reports are to be believed. The e-commerce giant has partnered up with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, based in Seattle, to develop vaccines for breast cancer and skin cancer.
According to Business Insider, the study was initially led by a secretive group within Amazon called the Grand Challenge.
Fred Hutchinson’s Vaccine Partnership with Amazon
The vaccine trials have advanced to the testing stage with the companies recruiting patients for a new clinical trial for personalized vaccines for breast and skin cancers, including melanoma. The project has been born out of Amazon’s moonshot lab called Grand Challenge and is Federal Drug Agency (FDA) approved.
According to a filing on clinical trials.gov, the study is looking to recruit 20 adults for phase one of the trials. Eventually, the goal is to develop personalized vaccines to treat cancer. The trial for the Amazon vaccine for breast cancer and the Amazon vaccine for skin cancer was first posted on the clinical trial database in October 2021. The study is expected to be completed by late 2023.
Fred Hutch and Amazon confirmed their partnership in developing the Amazon 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,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. “It’s very early, but Fred Hutch recently received permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a Phase I clinical trial, and it’s unclear whether it will be successful. This will be a long, multi-year process — should it progress, we would be open to working with other organizations in health care and life sciences that might also be interested in similar efforts.”
However, the spokesperson did not comment on the financial aspects or how the intellectual property rights of the Amazon vaccine for breast cancer and the Amazon vaccine for skin cancer will be laid out. The Amazon vaccines trial will also study anti-tumor response and survival as secondary outcome measurements.
Should the trial be successful, Amazon would be “open to working with other organizations in healthcare and life sciences that might also be interested in similar efforts.”
Amazon and Healthcare
In recent years, industry leaders have keenly followed Amazon foray into healthcare. In 2020, the ecommerce giant launched Amazon Pharmacy and an Amazon Prime prescription discount benefit under its healthcare banner.
Through Amazon Pharmacy, individuals residing in the US can use Amazon’s website or app to search for generic or branded medications and compare prices to find the lowest option. They can fill prescriptions just like making any other purchase on Amazon. At the time the CEO of PillPack and Amazon Pharmacy vice-president TJ Parker mentioned that the company intends to provide people with access to medications for the lowest possible price and have it delivered at the earliest.
Furthermore, in early 2022, the company expanded its virtual service Amazon Care nationwide. The retailer confirmed that it is on track to rapidly expand in-person care locations throughout 2022. Initially rolled out as a benefit for its employees, Amazon has now set its sights on partnering with organizations keen one extending medical benefits to workers.
Kristen Helton, director of Amazon Care says, “We’ve brought our on-demand urgent and primary care services to patients nationwide. As we grow the service, we’ll continue to work with our customers to address their needs.” Amazon Care provides urgent and primary care services, including Cövid-19.
With the combined forces of Amazon Pharmacy, Amazon Care, and now Amazon vaccines, the online bookstore has come a long way and looks ready to take on the murky world of US healthcare.
