Moderna Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares rallied after the biotechnology firm told investors that a trial that combined its investigational cancer vaccine with drug giant Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK)’s immunotherapy Keytruda for patients with stage III/IV melanoma reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 44%.
Moderna said the Phase 2b trial of its mRNA cancer vaccine in combination with Keytruda demonstrated a "statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement" in the primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival versus Keytruda alone.
"Today's results are highly encouraging for the field of cancer treatment,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. “mRNA has been transformative for COVID-19, and now, for the first time ever, we have demonstrated the potential for mRNA to have an impact on outcomes in a randomized clinical trial in melanoma."
Moderna said it planned additional studies in melanoma and other forms of cancer with the goal of bringing truly individualized cancer treatments to patients.
Individualized cancer treatments
In a statement, Moderna and Merck explained that personalized cancer vaccines are designed to prime the immune system so that a patient can generate a tailored antitumor response specific to their tumor mutation signature.
"These positive findings represent an important milestone in our collaboration with Moderna," added Dr Dean Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories. "Over the last six years, our teams have worked closely together combining our respective expertise in mRNA and immuno-oncology with a focus on improving outcomes for patients with cancer."
The companies said they plan to discuss the results with regulatory authorities and initiate a Phase 3 study in melanoma patients in 2023.
Moderna’s shares were up 23% in early afternoon trade while Merck gained just over 1%.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com