Merck and Moderna show personalized melanoma vaccine can be made for nearly every trial patient
- In the Phase 3 INTerpath-001 melanoma study (1,137 patients), intismeran autogene plus Keytruda cut recurrence or death risk by 42% (HR 0.58).
- A manufactured vaccine reached 99% of patients assigned to it; 82% of screened patients had enough tumor tissue.
- Of those, 91% received the full set of up to 34 neoantigens, and the rest still got a shot with fewer targets.
- Merck and Moderna are also testing it in kidney, lung and bladder cancer.
💡 Points Based on public reports
The efficacy number gets the headlines, but the 99% manufacturing success rate is what a payer and a competitor should study. Bespoke-per-patient products have usually died on logistics, and this one scaled across 1,137 patients. With Keytruda facing patent expiry, Merck is building a follow-on franchise on top of its own anchor drug, and Moderna gets a credible path beyond respiratory vaccines.
Merck, Moderna serve 99% of trial patients with mRNA vaccine as personalized shots near market ↗