Merck and Moderna's Melanoma Vaccine Shows Promising Results

US pharmaceutical companies Merck and Moderna have made significant progress in their trial of an experimental melanoma vaccine, intismeran autogene. The treatment showed 'statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements' in patients with skin cancer when used in combination with Merck's Keytruda treatment.

The companies reported that this represents the first positive Phase 3 readout for an individualized neoantigen therapy (INT) and for an mRNA-based cancer therapy. The mRNA technology has proven highly effective against severe forms of Covid-19, according to Merck and Moderna.

Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer, with more than 330,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide in 2022. The companies did not provide specific details of the trial results or say when the US Food and Drug Administration could consider the vaccine for approval.