Moderna and Merck reveal new data on individualized cancer treatment

Moderna
MRNA,
+0.62%
and Merck & Co.
MRK,
+0.82%
on Monday released new results from a trial evaluating Moderna’s mRNA-based investigational individualized neoantigen therapy in combination with Merck’s Keytruda in patients with high-risk melanoma. The combined therapy demonstrated a meaningful improvement in distant metastasis-free survival, a key secondary endpoint of the study, the companies said in a release. The results “add to the emerging picture of how individualized neoantigen therapy may advance melanoma treatment and the promise it may hold for other types of cancer,” Moderna senior vice president Dr. Kyle Holen said in a statement. The new data are being presented for the first time later Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. Moderna shares were up 0.7% premarket on Monday, while Merck shares were up 0.3%.