A new study released Monday found that a vaccine launched by Merck and Moderna reduces the chance of skin cancer when combined with the drug Keytruda.
new result Seventy-nine percent of participants who received the vaccine plus Keytruda remained cancer-free for 18 months, compared with only 62 percent of those who received Merck’s Keytruda alone. The companies also said Phase 2 results showed mild side effects from the vaccine, including fatigue, injection site pain and chills.
“Today’s results demonstrate the potential for personalized neoantigen therapy to positively impact patients with high-risk resected melanoma,” said Kyle Hollen, senior vice president and head of development, therapeutics and oncology at Moderna. It further boosts the possibilities of mRNA.
“The observed significant reduction in recurrence-free survival suggests that this combination may be a novel avenue for prolonging life in high-risk melanoma patients,” Hollen said. We look forward to starting a Phase 3 trial in melanoma soon and expanding the trial into lung cancer and beyond.”
The trial included 157 patients with high-risk stage 4 or 5 melanoma who were disease-free after melanoma resection. Participants received two medications after the melanoma was removed, then Keytruda every three weeks until they had 18 treatments.
The trial is expected to begin a Phase 3 trial in 2023 and will include adjuvant melanoma patients for expansion into additional tumor types. The companies completed his Phase 3 trial in December and found a 44% reduction in participants’ risk of recurrence or death. Phase 1 is the first time an mRNA vaccine elicits an immune response in a patient taking another drug.
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