Moderna, Merck say personalized melanoma vaccine cut recurrence risk in late-stage trial

Moderna and Merck said their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, used with Merck’s Keytruda immunotherapy, reduced the chance of the cancer coming back in a large late-stage trial of more than 1,100 patients with surgically removed high-risk melanoma. The companies said the treatment also lowered the risk of the disease spreading elsewhere, while the trial continues to track overall survival. The result is being seen as an important step for individualized cancer vaccines, but experts have noted that longer follow-up is still needed before the approach can be considered definitive.