Moderna and Merck have announced promising early results from a trial combining an experimental mRNA-based cancer vaccine with Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda for melanoma patients. The trial, which integrated the mRNA vaccine, known as intisemran, with the established therapy Keytruda, demonstrated improved outcomes compared to Keytruda alone.
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel stated that combining the drugs ensured all patients in the study received the standard of care, a crucial ethical consideration for experimental treatments. "It would be unethical for us to tell people to come on a study of something that we don’t know if it works, when people are fighting for their lives," Bancel said. "That’s why we did the study together with Keytruda, which can improve outcomes, and we tried to show that the combination was better, and we did."
The company is also investigating the use of intisemran as a standalone therapy, potentially for earlier stages of cancer. A separate study is underway for stage 1 lung cancer, aiming to assess if priming the immune system early with intisemran can yield similar beneficial results. In this lung cancer trial, the mRNA vaccine is being studied alongside standard treatment, which typically involves surgery and close monitoring.
Bancel expressed optimism about the broad applicability of mRNA technology in oncology. "From a scientific standpoint there is no scientific sense that it would work in melanoma and not work in another tumor type," he explained, referring to the mRNA approach. He envisions a future where such therapies could be administered widely, potentially transforming cancer care by reducing toxicity associated with other immunotherapies and significantly impacting patient outcomes by preventing metastasis and severe disease.