Moderna-Merck & Co cancer vaccine with Keytruda shows late-stage promise
Posted: 22 January 2026 | Catherine Eckford (European Pharmaceutical Review) | No comments yet
New phase IIb data highlights the combination’s potential to offer improved efficiency to high-risk melanoma patients.
Combining Moderna’s mRNA-based individualised neoantigen therapy with a Merck & Co anti-PD-1 therapy has shown significant promise in reducing the risk of disease recurrence or death in high-risk melanoma patients.
New median five-year follow up data from the phase IIb KEYNOTE-942/mRNA-4157-P201 trial showed that Moderna’s intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157 or V940) with Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) reduced this risk by 49 percent compared to Keytruda monotherapy.
Dr Marjorie Green, Senior Vice President and Head of Oncology, Global Clinical Development, Merck Research Laboratories, said: “For many patients with stage III/IV melanoma, there is a significant risk of recurrence following surgery.
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and Keytruda to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone.”
We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care”
Patients were administered with 1mg of mRNA over nine injected doses. The current analysis builds on the primary and subsequent analysis of follow up at approximately two and three years, respectively. Moderna and Merck plan to present further data from these analyses at a future medical meeting.
Dr Kyle Holen, Moderna’s Senior Vice President and Head of Development, Oncology and Therapeutics, said: “Now with five years of follow-up data, today’s results highlight the potential of a prolonged benefit of the intismeran autogene and Keytruda combination in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.
“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care. We look forward to several additional milestones to come, including the results of our phase III study in adjuvant melanoma in collaboration with Merck, and continued progress across the eight phase II and phase III studies in multiple tumour types and patient populations.”
This news builds on Moderna’s recent mRNA-focused developments, including its $140 million investment in US manufacturing announced last November, as well as the firm’s inauguration of the UK’s first mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in September.
