London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 12, 2025

‘Paradigm shift’ in cancer treatment as Moderna’s vaccine shows promise

‘Paradigm shift’ in cancer treatment as Moderna’s vaccine shows promise

Preliminary results raise hope of fundamental change in cancer treatment.

The technology that saved the day during the COVID-19 pandemic is on the cusp of doing the same for cancer.

Preliminary results from Moderna's ongoing trial of a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine given alongside an immunotherapy from MSD showed a “statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in the risk of disease recurrence or death,” the company said Tuesday.

The positive results from the phase 2b trial that tested the vaccine's efficacy and safety paves the way for the final stage of research and then potentially a future approval for the first mRNA cancer vaccine.

Moderna became a household name during the pandemic when its mRNA vaccine became one of two vaccines of choice for many countries. But while the company was delivering hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, it was also working on trials of its pipeline of different types of cancer vaccines, including one that targets specific gene mutations.

Leading the pack is the company's personalized cancer vaccine. The vaccine, which is being delivered alongside MSD’s immunotherapy Keytruda, is meant to stimulate an immune response based on a patient’s specific tumor. Keytruda then helps the patient’s immune cells to more effectively fight the cancer. The hope was that by working together, the vaccine and the immunotherapy would be able to “bring the power of the immune system to bear on the cancer and to kill it,” said Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton in an interview with POLITICO.

While the current trial is testing the vaccine for melanoma, Moderna is planning additional studies to test it on other cancers. Speaking before the results were released, Burton said that if the trial succeeded it would “be a new paradigm shift, [a] foundational shift that we haven't seen for at least a decade, in a new therapeutic approach for cancer.”

Those hopes appear to have been realized. Preliminary results released today of the trial of 157 melanoma patients indicate that the risk of recurrence of cancer or death was 44 percent lower in those receiving both the vaccine and Keytruda compared to those receiving the immunotherapy alone. The next step is to publish the full data set and start discussions with regulators. Moderna and MSD plan to begin the larger phase 3 trial, which will test effectiveness in more people, in 2023 and “rapidly expand to additional tumor types.”

Cancer is the next major target for mRNA jabs, with companies like Moderna and BioNTech working to prove that their jabs can both outperform existing immunotherapies delivered on their own and provide value to cash-strapped health systems.


Cancer as a chronic disease


What makes the mRNA technology unique is that it can bring together 20 to 30 antigens — substances that trigger an immune response in the body. That's something that's fundamental to the potential success of the vaccine, as it means the immune system is shown a whole range of antigens that the tumor is expressing. “I can’t imagine how you can do that with any other technology,” said Burton.

Unlike Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine which is “off the shelf” and not tailored to each individual patient, Moderna's personalized cancer vaccine is “supremely complex,” said Burton as “it’s really making a medicine for each individual person.”

The aim? For certain patients in the earlier stage of their disease, the hope is the treatment could potentially prevent the disease from progressing. In patients with more advanced disease, the desire is to extend their life, with their cancer becoming something of a chronic disease.

“We would hope that if we can really prove this, that it will be a fundamental shift in the way that — at least for certain kinds of cancer — we treat them and the clinical benefit could really be profound,” said Burton.

The other factor is side effects. Or rather, the relative lack of them compared to, say, chemotherapy drugs. “If you can get real clinical benefit with a really manageable safety profile, I really think could be transformational," said the chief medical officer. The topline results on Tuesday indicate that the adverse events were consistent with those reported in the phase 1 trial, which found the vaccine had an acceptable safety profile.

One of the major obstacles with immunotherapies is the price. There’s concern that the same will happen with mRNA cancer vaccines. While these kinds of decisions are some way off, it’s a concern that Sam Godfrey, senior research information manager at Cancer Research U.K. (CRUK), previously expressed concern about.

“If something's costing a million pounds per treatment for a personalized vaccine, and its effectiveness isn't much better than standard chemotherapy, which doesn't cost very much, you've got that decision about, actually, is this worth investing in?” said Godfrey earlier this year.

Moderna’s Burton said he had not yet been in discussions around price. But he argued that mRNA has “huge potential” to bring value to many people around the world. “We want to bring equitable health care to people all around the world,” he said. “So we want to work with governments and with payers to do that, but I think it's premature yet to really think about price.”

Comments

Oh ya 3 year ago
If anyone takes a shot for anything after what has come out about the covid19 shot you deserve the blood clots and sudden death syndrome. You failed one world IQ test don't fail another

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
×