Moderna and Merck announced Thursday that their personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, combined with Keytruda, reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% in a Phase 3 clinical trial involving more than 1,100 patients. The combination also reduced the risk of disease spreading by 38%.
The vaccine, intismeran, targets up to 34 tumor-specific neoantigens to train the immune system to recognize cancer cells. After two years, 82.2% of patients receiving the vaccine and Keytruda remained cancer-free, compared with 70% of those receiving Keytruda alone.
Dr. Hussein Tawbi of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center described the findings as highly statistically significant.
Despite the results, Moderna shares fell more than 20% Thursday, while Merck shares declined around 1%, amid what analysts characterized as a “sell-the-news” reaction.
The companies are also studying the combination in lung, bladder and kidney cancers, with further results expected from ongoing trials.
Related Tweet:
Personalized mRNA cancer vaccine cut melanoma death, recurrence by 42% https://t.co/Gm4damML0l
— Ars Technica (@arstechnica) October 22, 2026
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