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Experimental skin cancer vaccine shows promising early results

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An experimental cancer vaccine, combined with another drug, performed well in mid-stage testing against a deadly form of skin cancer in the first effort to show that a cancer vaccine using messenger RNA may be effective, two pharmaceutical companies announced Tuesday.

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The therapy being tested by Moderna and Merck includes a vaccine created using mRNA technology, the same approach employed in the two most commonly used coronavirus vaccines. It was combined with Merck’s cancer immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, marketed as Keytruda.

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After surgery and as long as a year on the pair of drugs, melanoma patients in the trial saw a 44% reduced risk of recurrence or death when compared with patients who received Keytruda alone, according to an announcement from the two companies. The companies did not release the results of the study itself, but described the results as statistically significant.

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“Today’s results are highly encouraging for the field of cancer treatment,” Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s chief executive officer, said in a news release. “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.”

He said full data would be shared with health authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration, and released at a medical conference. The phase 2b trial involved 157 patients with Stage 3 or 4 melanoma that had spread to a lymph node and who faced a high risk of recurrence. The patients were split randomly into two groups.

Positive results in a larger phase 3 trial would be required before the FDA would consider allowing the drug combination on the market. The companies said they hope to begin that trial next year.

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