Merck and Moderna report slower melanoma recurrence — STAT News

Merck and Moderna reported that adding their mRNA vaccine to existing therapy slowed the recurrence and spread of melanoma in a late-stage clinical trial. As STAT News reports, the result strengthened researchers’ hopes for using this approach against other types of cancer.

Melanoma vaccine

The drug is called intismeran autogene. It is an mRNA vaccine designed to train the immune system to attack cancer cells. The idea of using messenger RNA for such immune training was proposed decades ago.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

According to the publication, the trial results indicated the promise of further developing drugs based on this principle. In August, Merck and Moderna reported the results of using the vaccine together with existing therapy.

Questions about other types of cancer

At the same time, researchers still need to determine which specific cancers such vaccines may be effective against and whether mRNA is suitable for these tasks. Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, said the field had been watching the data on the Merck and Moderna drug with great anticipation.