Moderna-Merck Cancer Vaccine Shows Promising Results in Late-Stage Trial
Moderna and Merck have announced positive results from a late-stage clinical trial of their personalized mRNA vaccine, Intismeran. The treatment combines Keytruda, an immunotherapy used to treat melanoma, with a custom-made mRNA vaccine tailored to each patient's tumor mutations.
The trial showed that the combination therapy reduced the risk of cancer recurrence and prevented tumors from spreading throughout the body. This is the first time a personalized mRNA vaccine has met its primary endpoint in a late-stage trial.
Moderna President Stephen Hoge called the result a milestone, stating that it could potentially help thousands of patients who have had high-risk melanoma tumors surgically removed.
The companies plan to present full data at an upcoming medical conference and have not yet released detailed results. Researchers also have yet to obtain overall survival data, which will determine whether patients who receive the combination treatment live longer than those who do not.