Historic Moment Against Cancer Following Vaccine Results for Melanoma
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
Biotechnology company Moderna and pharmaceutical firm MSD announced promising results on Wednesday for a melanoma vaccine combined with a drug in an advanced clinical trial, describing it as a 'historic moment' in cancer research. The trial involved 1,137 patients who had already undergone surgery to remove melanoma, aiming to reduce the risk of recurrence through a combined regimen of 'intismeran autogene,' a personalized experimental therapy based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technologies, and the drug Keytruda, according to a statement. This is the first combined regimen to show 'statistically significant and clinically relevant improvements in recurrence-free survival (RFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) compared to Keytruda alone for these patients in the context of adjuvant melanoma treatment,' the text states. 'Today's results represent a historic moment for adjuvant melanoma treatment,' said Georgina Long, the study's principal investigator and medical director of the Melanoma Institute Australia, in the statement. Moderna and MSD (known as Merck in the U.S.) highlighted that, in a previously specified interim analysis, intismeran combined with Keytruda met its objectives in patients with completely resected stage IIB, IIC, III, or IV cutaneous melanoma who had not received prior systemic treatment; however, they announced that studies will continue. 'According to the trial protocol, the study will continue to evaluate other key secondary endpoints, including overall survival,' they detailed. 'These phase 3 findings represent a turning point for the field of cancer research. For many years, the idea of creating an mRNA treatment specifically designed for each patient's cancer was an aspiration. Now we are helping to turn that vision into reality,' said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, in the statement. The companies announced they will present the data at an unspecified international medical meeting and will engage with regulatory authorities regarding applications for the experimental treatment. Intismeran autogene is a personalized neoantigen therapy based on mRNA, specifically designed for each patient based on their tumor's unique mutation set, aimed at training and activating the immune system to recognize and combat cancer, the companies specify. Meanwhile, Keytruda is the brand name for the active ingredient pembrolizumab, a monoclonal antibody that blocks the PD-1 receptor and helps the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells. Moderna and MSD are collaborating on a program called INTerpath, which evaluates the safety and efficacy of intismeran combined with Keytruda and other cancer therapies, as well as in monotherapy, covering nine phase 2 and 3 clinical trials across various tumor types and stages of disease, including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, and renal cell carcinoma. Following the release of promising trial data, Moderna's shares surged 126% on Wall Street by midday, while MSD's shares rose 11%.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
