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Moderna, Merck Cancer Vaccine Shows Major Promise
23 Oct
Summary
- Personalized cancer vaccine combined with Keytruda reduced melanoma death risk.
- The treatment cut melanoma death or recurrence risk by 42% in trials.
- New cancer treatment is expected to launch in 2027.
Moderna and Merck announced promising results from a large trial combining an mRNA cancer vaccine with Merck's immunotherapy Keytruda. The investigational treatment significantly reduced the risk of melanoma death or recurrence by 42% for patients.
The combination therapy also demonstrated a 38% reduction in the risk of the cancer spreading. This marks a critical advancement, being the first data showing that a personalized vaccine targeting unique tumor mutations, when paired with an immune-boosting drug, can effectively keep the disease in remission.
Keytruda functions by releasing the natural inhibition that allows cancer cells to evade the immune system, while the vaccine trains the patient's cells to produce specific mutations for the immune system to identify and destroy.
Company executives anticipate filing for U.S. approval, with the cancer vaccine projected for a 2027 launch. These findings, based on two years of patient data, are scheduled for presentation at an upcoming medical oncology meeting. Among patients receiving both the vaccine and Keytruda, 82.2% remained cancer-free after two years, compared to 70% who received Keytruda alone.
