Moderna and Merck’s personalized cancer vaccine just posted its numbers, and they’re good, though not quite what Wall Street hoped for.
In a late-stage trial in advanced melanoma, adding the vaccine to Keytruda cut the risk of the cancer returning or causing death by 42% compared to Keytruda alone. It also lowered the risk of the disease spreading to distant organs by 38%, with side effects that were mostly mild, mainly fever and injection-site pain.
For a cancer where a third or more of patients still relapse or die within five years, doctors involved in the study called it a real step forward. One investigator said researchers had tried for years to improve on Keytruda and never managed it until now.
The market was less impressed. Investors had been hoping for 40-50%, and the result landed a little below the 44% seen in an earlier, smaller trial. Moderna’s stock dropped sharply on the news, which some analysts called a classic “sell the news” move.
The bigger question is whether this approach works beyond melanoma. Studies in lung, bladder and kidney cancer are already underway.
Is a result like this a breakthrough in the making, or does the science still have more to prove? 🤔
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