Moderna's Crusade Against Skin Cancer's Deadly Form
In the wake of mRNA technology's groundbreaking achievements during the pandemic, Moderna aims to push boundaries once more. This time, they're targeting skin cancer, with the US pharmaceutical giant announcing promising study results for a potential vaccine against malignant melanoma.
Moderna's CEO, Stéphane Bancel, reveals an ambitious timeline. "We believe the product could be available in some countries by 2025, with an expedited approval process," he declared. The vaccine is designed for malignant melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer.
The mRNA-powered cancer vaccine developed by Moderna shares similarities with their coronavirus vaccines, developed in collaboration with Biontech. Like its predecessors, this vaccine seeks to rouse the immune system, but this time, it tackles the body's own cancer cells rather than a pathogen like the coronavirus.
The Future of Immunotherapy
Bancel refers to the potential vaccine as "immunotherapy 2.0." In traditional immunotherapy, patients receive antibody drugs such as Keytruda from MSD. Therapeutic vaccines, as this one, offer great hope in cancer research, according to Bancel.
Clinical Trials Have Promising Results
In a recent clinical trial, 157 participants with advanced melanoma were administered Keytruda coupled with the vaccine. The risk of cancer recurrence or death was reduced by 49% compared to Keytruda alone based on the presented study results. While the risk of relapse and death was 44% in a previous trial, the use of the mRNA vaccine halved this figure.
Keytruda is lauded as "the best product on the market to date" by Bancel. Combined with the mRNA vaccine, its impact is "enormous" in oncology, with "every second person" now surviving, according to the CEO.
Moderna plans to launch a large-scale clinical trial involving a thousand participants in 2024, with an application for conditional approval to follow. The FDA and EMA are already reviewing the data submitted by Moderna, using an accelerated process. An estimated 325,000 people were diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2020, and 57,000 died.
The Future of Cancer Vaccines
Moderna's strategic goal is to bring the mRNA-based vaccine to markets by 2025, given promising trial results. This vaccine, armed with the power of mRNA technology, is designed to prevent melanoma from returning in patients who have undergone surgery.
The pharmaceutical industry, including giants like Moderna, are exploring myriad avenues to combat cancer. Touted as a game-changer in oncology, therapeutic vaccines like this one hold promise in overcoming one of the world's deadliest diseases.
[1] Moderna Press Release, "Moderna Reports Promising Initial Clinical Data for mRNA-4157, Its Investigational Personalized Cancer Vaccine," Aug. 10, 2021. [2] Moderna Press Release, "Moderna and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Collaborate to Develop an mRNA Cancer Vaccine," Oct. 18, 2018. [3] ScienceDaily, "Moderna, NCI Collaborate on Liquid Biopsy," June 28, 2021. [4] BioSpace, "Moderna Begins Placebo-Controlled Phase 2 Trial of mRNA-4157 Cancer Vaccine," July 6, 2021.
Enrichment data:
- Moderna's mRNA-4157 cancer vaccine is currently in a phase 2 clinical trial for malignant melanoma.
- The vaccine is being tested in combination with pembrolizumab, an anti-PD-1 therapy, which holds promise in metastatic melanoma.
- The personalized neoantigen approach used in mRNA-4157 has shown high complete response rates and overall response rates in metastatic melanoma, with the potential for durable responses.
- Moderna is collaborating with Merck on an mRNA-based cancer vaccine, currently in a phase 3 trial for high-risk melanoma.
