Moderna and Merck Crack Cancer Vaccine Code After Century-Long Struggle

Moderna and Merck's joint cancer vaccine project has achieved a breakthrough after over 100 years of failed attempts at creating a therapeutic cancer vaccine. The mRNA cancer vaccine, known as intismeran autogene, has shown promise in keeping tumours from coming back or spreading in patients with localised melanoma.

The companies have been working on this project for 10 years and have invested heavily in it. Merck paid $200 million upfront in 2016 to partner with Moderna, and another $250 million in 2022. The vaccine uses mRNA technology to target dozens of mutations unique to each patient's tumours.

The companies paired the vaccine with Keytruda, a checkpoint inhibitor that activates the immune system T-cells to hunt down abnormal cells. The vaccine provides 34 patient-specific cancer targets for the immune system to recognise, and only one needs to work.

The success of this project is significant, not just because it has finally achieved what others have failed to do, but also because it could lead to custom-made vaccines that train the immune system to fight an individual patient's cancer. The companies plan to dig into the melanoma data to see if they can improve the vaccine and test it in other types of cancers.