The Moderna vaccine in combination with the drug Merck is successful against melanoma

Bloomberg – In an intermediate stage study, the experimental and personalized cancer vaccine from modern inc. (mRNA) reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death when combined with Keytruda, by Merck & Co. (MRK extension).

the two treatments it reduced the risk of death or recurrence of this lethal skin cancer by 44%., as indicated by both companies this Tuesday in a document. Both pharmaceuticals They plan to move the blend to the final stage of trials in 2023. On the opening of the New York market, shares of Moderna rose 13%.

drug Truda wrench of Merck, which prevents cancer cells from evading the immune system’s protections against cancerit is considered one of the cornerstones of melanoma treatment, both in very advanced inoperable cases and in the prevention of recurrence after surgery. The study of this Moderna vaccine aims to use an mRNA vaccine to generate a greater immune system response than Keytruda alone.

While these results provide the first real test of beneficial effect of an mRNA cancer therapy, the results also indicate “a small number of cases or no effect in a subset of patients,” says the Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, Sam Fazeli.

Skin cancers are by farthe most common human cancers, and melanoma, an aggressive and difficult to treat formrepresents about 1% of the total. About 100,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma each year, and more than 7,000 of them die each year, according to the American Cancer Society.

To make the vaccine, Moderna takes a biopsy of a tumor, isolates some of the proteins, and integrates them into a vaccine which teaches the immune system to recognize those markers. This helps the body fight the cancer when it comes back.

New applications

Researcherss has been working on personalized cancer vaccines for decades with limited success, especially as they are difficult to produce on a large scale. Moderna’s Messenger RNA technology is more flexible than many previous technologies, making one-of-a-kind custom shots more convenient to produce.

The company is looking for new successful applications for mRNA, which facilitated the rapid development and production of vaccines against Covid-19. Companies like BioNTech SE (BNTX)partner of Pfizer Inc. (PFE extension) in the production of vaccines against Covid-19, had experimented with mRNA vaccines against cancer before the pandemic.

Modern believes it now it has enough data to test its vaccine in other types of cancersaid the CEO Stephane Bancel in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

“Will it work everywhere? I do not know. But let’s try aggressivelyhe said, adding that Moderna has a formidable bottom line thanks to its sales of Covid-19 vaccines and Merck will split development costs.

S Moderna shares rose 19% to US$196.45, as of 9:49 am in New York and Merck shares are up less than 1%. Moderna is down 35% this year as of Monday. Merck is up 42%.

With assistance from John Lauerman.

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