New Vaccine Shows Signs of Preventing Skin Cancer

Merck and Moderna recently shared promising news about a new cancer treatment. They have been testing a custom mRNA therapy called intismeran alongside Merck’s existing drug, KEYTRUDA.

The latest Phase 3 trial results show this combination works better than just using KEYTRUDA alone for patients who had stage IIB-IV melanoma removed by surgery.

A Custom Cancer Treatment for Each Patient

The mRNA vaccine is actually built specifically for each patient. It targets the unique makeup of a person’s tumor. Personalizing the medicine helps keep the cancer from coming back or spreading to other parts of the body.

The safety profile also appears consistent with earlier tests, with no new safety surprises.

“This is the first Phase 3 study to show that intismeran, a treatment designed based on the unique mutational ‘fingerprint’ of a patient’s own tumor, given in combination with pembrolizumab can reduce the risk of recurrence or death in patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma compared to KEYTRUDA alone,” Professor Georgina Long, the study’s principal investigator, explained. “Intismeran in combination with pembrolizumab has the potential to establish a new treatment paradigm in the adjuvant melanoma setting, helping patients remain cancer-free for longer.”

What Happens Next

This marks the first time a Phase 3 study has shown positive results for an mRNA cancer treatment like this. It builds on earlier five-year data that showed the drug combo cut the risk of the cancer returning or causing death by 49%.

Now, the companies plan to share this data with health regulators and at an upcoming medical meeting. They are also testing this approach on other types of cancer, like lung, bladder, and kidney cancers.

“By intervening earlier in the course of disease, when many cancers are considered most treatable, the goal of adjuvant therapy given after surgery is to increase the possibility of cure for more patients,” Dr. Dean Y. Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, added. “These first Phase 3 findings for intismeran in combination with KEYTRUDA as adjuvant therapy reinforce the promise of a more personalized approach to cancer treatment. We believe individualized neoantigen therapies have the potential to redefine how patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma are treated. Together with Moderna, we look forward to presenting data from INTerpath-001 at an international medical meeting and sharing with regulatory authorities.”