Moderna-Merck Vaccine Cuts Melanoma Risk by 49%

Researchers have made significant progress in developing personalized cancer vaccines, specifically for patients with high-risk melanoma. Moderna and Merck are collaborating on a treatment called intismeran autogene, which combines an mRNA vaccine with Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug.

The study involved over 1,000 patients who had localised tumours surgically removed but were at risk of recurrence. The trial found that adding the personalized vaccine to Keytruda reduced the risk of cancer returning or death by 49%, and the risk of the cancer spreading by 59% compared to using Keytruda alone.

The researchers are hopeful that this breakthrough could change the way cancer is treated, and are already conducting trials on other types of cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, and kidney cancer. Other companies, such as Roche and BioNTech, are also developing similar mRNA cancer vaccines.