Personalized Therapy Shows Promise in Treating Melanoma

A new personalized mRNA therapy called V940 is being studied for its potential to treat melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer. Developed by Merck and Moderna, this treatment is tailored to each patient based on their tumor information.

The unique feature of V940 is that it helps the body's immune system recognize specific cancer markers present in the patient's tumor. A sample of the patient's tumor is taken to identify these changes, and neoantigens are selected that the immune system can use to recognize cancer cells.

V940 has shown promising results when combined with Merck's Keytruda, pembrolizumab. In a 5-year follow-up data released in 2026, the combination reduced the risk of cancer recurrence or death by 49% compared to Keytruda alone.