BioNTech Halts Colorectal Cancer Vaccine Trial Amid Lack of Efficacy

BioNTech has halted its mid-stage trial of its mRNA colorectal cancer vaccine after an independent safety review committee found that the treatment was unlikely to extend the lives of patients with high-risk, mid-stage colorectal cancer.

The company's shares fell by 7.5% on Friday following the announcement, which comes just days after Merck and Moderna reported success with their mRNA-based vaccine in preventing melanoma recurrence in over 1,000 patients.

According to the committee responsible for overseeing the safety and integrity of BioNTech's trial, a 'numerical imbalance' was found in overall survival between patient groups, indicating that more deaths occurred in the vaccine group than the control group.

Analysts have suggested that this imbalance is likely due to the fact that the vaccine did not provide any significant benefit to patients with high-risk, mid-stage colorectal cancer.