Moderna Expands mRNA Tech Beyond COVID-19 into Cancer Treatment

Moderna Korea's Vice President Kim Hee-soo says mRNA technology has proven its potential in cancer treatment beyond COVID-19 vaccines. The company recently developed a personalized messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) cancer treatment vaccine jointly with Merck, which succeeded in phase 3 clinical trials.

The vaccine uses the fast development speed and flexible design of mRNA to create individual treatments tailored to mutations in different cancer cells for each patient.

Kim Hee-soo explained that even if it's the same type of cancer, the mutations of cancer cells are different, like fingerprints. The goal is to induce a patient-specific immune response by presenting a 'target list' so T cells can recognize the characteristics of cancer cells.