Moderna-Merck Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise in Late-Stage Trial

A potential life-extending treatment for melanoma is one step closer to market after an experimental mRNA-based cancer vaccine from Merck and Moderna met its main goal in a late-stage trial. The personalized vaccine, Intismeran, was combined with Merck's Keytruda in high-risk patients who had surgically removed their melanomas.

The study enrolled 1,137 patients who received the vaccine and Keytruda or Keytruda alone for approximately one year. The results showed that the treatment extended 'recurrence-free survival' (RFS), which is how long patients live without melanoma coming back. The trial also met a secondary goal of preventing cancer from spreading to different parts of the body.

The companies said the results were 'clinically meaningful,' but did not specify how long patients lived after treatment without their cancer returning. In an interview, Merck Research Laboratories President Dean Li noted that earlier studies showed most people who were disease-free after one year remained so after five years.