Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have arguably saved millions of lives since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Moderna CMO Paul Burton indicated the same would be true for cancer and that his company could have these vaccines ready by the end of this decade. Certainly, experts agree that COVID-19 highlighted the potential of mRNA in other areas like cancer and heart disease. But can Moderna'and science as a whole'realize this potential in as few as five years, as Burton told The Guardian? At the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting, Moderna and Merck presented data from the Phase II trial of their therapeutic vaccine mRNA-4157/V940, in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab), for high-risk melanoma following complete resection. Compared with Keytruda alone, the combination led to a 44% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death. Over 12 months of observation, the recurrence-free survival rate was 83.4%, which dropped slightly to 78.6% over 18 months.
Back to top