Moderna announces successful study of skin cancer vaccine

Pharmaceutical companies Moderna Inc. and Merck & Co. presented detailed results of their study on the use of a personalized cancer vaccine along with the cancer drug Keytruda, reports BLOOMBERG.

The study was conducted in the treatment of people who had melanomas surgically removed. About 79% of those given Keytruda and the vaccine were in remission during the 18 months of the trial. When treated with Keytruda alone, this result was obtained in 62%. The side effects of the vaccine are minor, the researchers said, including fatigue, for example.

The vaccine was created for each patient after studying the genetic sequences of their tumors. The drug is based on matrix ribonucleic acid (mRNA, as in the Moderna vaccine against covid-19 ), and it "trains" the human immune system to recognize markers of abnormal growth in cells. The vaccine and Keytruda were administered every three weeks.

Merck Medical DIRECTOR Eliav Barr noted that now the developers will conduct larger studies in order to prove the effectiveness of this combination at the final stage. Only then will it be possible to seek approval for the use of this treatment from the US authorities. In addition, it is planned to test the vaccine in the treatment of other types of cancer against which Keytruda is used.

Keytruda is used in the treatment of more than 10 types of cancer, including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), HEAD, neck, cervical, endometrial cancer, and others.

The company announced the first results of a study on a personalized cancer vaccine in December. Then the developers said that the drug reduces mortality from melanoma or the risk of relapse by 44%.