Amazon is developing vaccines in collaboration with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and has recently launched a clinical trial already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US equivalent of Infarmed.

The partnership aims to recruit up to 20 participants over the age of 18 for the first phase of testing, according to documents submitted to the US portal clinicaltrials.gov, a clinical trials database managed by the US National Library of Medicine. The goal is to develop "personalized vaccines" capable of treating breast cancer and melanoma, one of several skin cancers.

The Fred Hutchinson Center is listed as a patron of the study, while Amazon identifies itself as a collaborator. News of the partnership advanced by Business Insider reports that the study was first published in October last year and that it started on June 9 this year. It is expected to finish in November of next year, when the preliminary results will be known.

To CNBC, the Fred Hutchinson Center and Amazon confirmed the partnership, and a spokesperson for the retail giant assured that the work is being led by the specialized institution.

"Amazon is contributing scientific and machine-learning expertise to a partnership with Fred Hutch to explore the development of personalized treatments for different types of cancer," the spokesperson reveals to USA Channel. "It is still early days, but Fred Hutch has received FDA permission to move forward with phase 1 clinical trials, but it is still uncertain whether they will be successful. This will be a long, multi-year process - if it progresses, we are open to working with other organizations in the health and life sciences sector that may be interested in similar efforts," he goes on to say.

Amazon has cemented its presence in the healthcare industry over the past few years. The company launched an online pharmacy in 2020 and has been rapidly scaling its telemedicine service, Amazon Care. In addition, it has been looking to develop medical diagnostic tools to be used at home.