Merck and Moderna say mRNA melanoma vaccine hits goals in late-stage trial

Moderna and Merck announced today that their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine significantly reduced cancer recurrence and spread in a late-stage trial. The treatment could become available to patients as early as next year if regulators give it the green light. The vaccine was developed by Moderna and tested alongside the widely-used melanoma treatment drug Keytruda, a combination that proved more effective than Keytruda alone.

This marks the first positive late-stage trial result for an mRNA cancer vaccine, a groundbreaking development that trains a patient's immune system to target specific mutations in tumor cells. The trial involved 1,137 high-risk patients with stage IIB-IV melanoma who had undergone surgery to remove their tumors. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either Keytruda plus the personalized vaccine or Keytruda alone for approximately one year.

No new safety concerns emerged during the trial. In January, the companies unveiled mid-stage trial results showing a 49% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death after five years. Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, believes the Moderna results could usher in a new era of treating solid-tumor cancers.