Moderna, Merck ‘personalized’ cancer vaccine succeeds in late-stage melanoma trial

Merck and Moderna’s experimental personalized cancer vaccine has shown promising success in Melanoma’s first-ever late-stage trial.

The landmark success in the trial has brought the companies one step closer to filing for approval of the treatment option. The mRNA-based vaccine combined with Merck’s immunotherapy Keytruda met its primary goals in a late stage trial involving over 1,100 high-risk or advanced melanoma patients.

Speaking about the efficacy, the combination significantly extended recurrence-free survival compared to Keytruda alone and reduced the chances of the cancer spreading to the other parts of the body.

The promising thing is that during trials, the treatment was well tolerated with minimal side effects which are common in other vaccine trials.

The vaccine works on a personalized approach and is custom-designed to target the unique mutations found in an individual patient’s tumor. It works by training the patient’s immune system to identify and destroy specific cancer markers and Keytruda helps the body attack the cancer more effectively.

Following the promising results, Moderna stock soared more than 10 percent and Merck rose over 1 percent in premarket trading.

Melanoma is considered one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2023 more than 1.5 million people in the US suffered from melanoma.