HAVANA, Cuba (CMC) – A lung cancer vaccine developed in Cuba will be tested in the United States through the work of the Rosewell Park Institute – a cancer research and treatment centre located in New York.

The vaccine, known as Cimavax will soon enter the US and could benefit cancer patients in that country.

“We believe that treatments should be available to all patients and that politics and geography should not prohibit the drug development process,” reads a statement on the webpage of the Washington based Lung Cancer Alliance.

“The development of Cimavax is particularly exciting as it would represent a new class of therapeutics for lung cancer – a vaccine that primes the immune system, similarly to the flu shot or common childhood vaccines,” the statement continued.

The Lung Cancer Alliance was founded in 1995 to meet the needs of lung cancer patients and those at risk by improving outcomes, eliminating stigma and securing public health research funding.

In 2010 Lung Cancer Alliance began its first awareness program. Since then, Lung Cancer Alliance has developed many programs focused on lung cancer awareness: “Give a Scan,” “National Shine a Light on Lung Cancer,” and “Team Lung Love,” have helped create awareness in the United States and internationally.

In February 2012, Lung Cancer Alliance took on its first major initiative, creating a national framework for lung cancer screening.

In June 2012, it launched its national “No One Deserves To Die” campaign to help raise awareness and change the stigma associated with lung cancer. By the end of the campaign, more than 281 million impressions were made and market research proved a shift in sentiment around lung cancer.