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(Sharecast News) - Merck and Moderna surged on Wednesday after the pharmaceutical companies said a personalised mRNA melanoma vaccine they are jointly developing showed positive results in a first-ever late-stage trial.
The company hailed positive topline results from the Phase 3 trial of intismeran, a novel investigational mRNA-based individualised neoantigen therapy (INT) in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, in patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma.
The trial met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival and a key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival.
Merck and Moderna said this was the first positive Phase 3 readout for an individualised neoantigen therapy and for an mRNA-based cancer therapy, and the first Phase 3 study to demonstrate a clinically meaningful improvement over Keytruda alone.
Dr. Dean Y. Li, president, Merck Research Laboratories, said: "By intervening earlier in the course of disease, when many cancers are considered most treatable, the goal of adjuvant therapy given after surgery is to increase the possibility of cure for more patients.
"These first Phase 3 findings for intismeran in combination with Keytruda as adjuvant therapy reinforce the promise of a more personalised approach to cancer treatment. We believe individualised neoantigen therapies have the potential to redefine how patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma are treated. Together with Moderna, we look forward to presenting data from INTerpath-001 at an international medical meeting and sharing with regulatory authorities."
At 1345 BST, Merck shares were up 6.6% in pre-market trade at $144.03 and Moderna shares were a whopping 95% higher at $122.56.
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