Photo is not related to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo is not related to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

The mRNA technology that powered COVID-19 vaccines may be on the verge of transforming cancer treatment. Moderna and Merck announced that their jointly developed personalized mRNA cancer therapy met its primary endpoints in a large-scale Phase 3 clinical trial, demonstrating its ability to suppress cancer recurrence and metastasis.

According to the Wall Street Journal and other outlets, the two companies said Wednesday (local time) that their personalized mRNA cancer treatment, mresvacc — used in combination with Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda — produced positive results in the trial.

The trial enrolled more than 1,100 high-risk patients who had undergone surgery to remove melanoma. Patients who received both mresvacc and Keytruda went significantly longer before cancer recurrence than those who received Keytruda alone. The combination also achieved a secondary goal of reducing the risk of the cancer spreading to other organs.

It marks the first time a personalized mRNA cancer therapy has produced positive results in a large-scale Phase 3 trial.

mresvacc works by analyzing a patient's tumor tissue and blood to identify the unique mutations present in their cancer cells, then training the immune system to attack those specific targets. Because mutations differ from patient to patient even within the same cancer type, a separate treatment is in effect manufactured for each individual.

The Wall Street Journal said the results open a new path toward treatments that could prevent melanoma recurrence — a deadly form of skin cancer — and extend patient survival.

Moderna is targeting regulatory approval by 2027. If commercialized, the therapy would give the company — which has struggled since COVID-19 vaccine demand declined — a foothold in the roughly $240 billion anticancer drug market.

Markets responded immediately. Moderna's share price surged about 132 percent as of noon on the New York Stock Exchange that day, while Merck rose about 11 percent.

However, the need to manufacture a separate treatment for each patient means reducing production time and cost remains a key challenge for commercialization. Even so, the question now is whether mRNA technology — proven at scale through COVID-19 — can establish itself as a new platform for cancer treatment, having cleared the late-stage clinical threshold for the first time.


sjy@heraldcorp.com