Moderna cancer vaccine with Merck Keytruda cuts skin cancer spread
Moderna 's experimental cancer vaccine, used in combination with Merck 's Keytruda, reduced the risk of the most deadly form of skin cancer spreading to other parts of the body in a clinical trial, according to the midstage trial results published on Monday.
Moderna's cancer vaccine reduced the risk of melanoma spreading to other parts of the body or death by 65% in patients with stage three or four of the disease compared to patients who received Merck's immunotherapy treatment alone, the trial has found.
Moderna and Merck will present the data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual conference in Chicago at 5 p.m. ET.
The clinical trial has enrolled 157 patients who have had their cancer surgically removed.
Patients in the treatment group receive 1 mg injections of Moderna's vaccine every three weeks for nine total doses and 200 mg intravenous infusions of Keytruda every three weeks for about a year.
Source: CNBC
