Merck and Moderna's Cancer Vaccine Shows Promising Results in Phase 3 Trial

The pharmaceutical companies Merck and Moderna have announced positive results from a clinical trial of their experimental cancer drug, intismeran autogene. The treatment uses mRNA technology to target specific tumor mutations, and when combined with pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy drug, it prevented melanoma recurrence in over 90% of patients. This is the first time an mRNA-based treatment has shown positive results in a Phase 3 trial.

The trial involved 1,137 patients who received either intismeran autogene plus pembrolizumab or pembrolizumab alone after surgical removal of their cancer. The companies said they would present their data at an upcoming international conference and begin filing for regulatory approval.

Experts have welcomed the results as a significant step forward in cancer treatment, but cautioned that more data is needed to confirm the long-term effectiveness of the treatment. Dr. Lennard Lee called the results 'very encouraging', while Dr. Marco Gerlinger noted that the press release was short on details and that it's not yet known whether the recurrence rate will increase over a longer period.

The technology behind intismeran autogene uses synthetic molecular instructions to instruct cells to produce targets that train the body's immune system. The mRNA technology has previously been used in Covid-19 vaccines, developed by Moderna and Pfizer.