Moderna and Merck's mRNA Therapy Cuts Skin Cancer Risk by Half

Moderna and Merck announced positive results from their Phase 3 clinical trial of intismeran autogene, an experimental personalized messenger RNA-based therapy for skin cancer. The INTerpath-001 study involved 1,137 patients with stage IIB to IV cutaneous melanoma that had been completely removed by surgery.

The combination of intismeran autogene and Keytruda (pembrolizumab) achieved a statistically significant improvement in relapse-free survival compared to Keytruda alone. The trial also met one of its key secondary endpoints: improving distant metastasis-free survival, which is delaying or preventing the cancer from reappearing in other organs of the body.

Intismeran autogene uses messenger RNA to teach the immune system to identify specific proteins or neoantigens unique to the tumor cells and trigger a response against them. It can encode up to 34 tumor-specific neoantigens for each patient.