Moderna reports positive data from personalized cancer vaccine trials
Overall, the vaccine was well tolerated by the patients, with any adverse effects typically being low grade and reversible.
By AARON REICHFILE PHOTO: A sign marks the headquarters of Moderna Therapeutics, which is developing a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., May 18, 2020(photo credit: BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS)
US-based biotechnology firm Moderna revealed promising results in the interim data for its ongoing clinical trials for its personalized cancer vaccine (PCV) candidate.Known as mRNA-4157, the PCV vaccine is currently in Phase I of its clinical trials, which has seen 10 patients with HPV(-) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and 17 patients with micro-satellite stable colorectal cancer (MSS-CRC) administered the vaccine candidate alongside Merck’s Keytruda. While no responses were observed from the MSS-CRC patients, those in the HPV(-) HNSCC group displayed measured tumor shrinkage responses.Overall, the vaccine was well tolerated by the patients, with any adverse effects typically being low grade and reversible.Following these results, Moderna plans to expand the size of its current cohort.“We are encouraged by these interim data from our personalized cancer vaccine program, which involves designing and manufacturing a unique vaccine for each patient based on their specific tumor,” Moderna's president Stephen Hoge, M.D., said in a statement.“This study demonstrates the ability of Moderna’s mRNA personalized cancer vaccine to elicit clinical activity when given in combination with pembrolizumab.”Moderna has been making waves over the course of 2020 as being one of the companies leading the race to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, and being one of the first to begin clinical trials. While other companies, most notably Pfizer, have moved forward with their vaccine candidates, the relatively young US start-up still thinks their candidate will be as good or better than its competitors, and this is in part due to how the vaccine works.As disclosed in an interview with Globesin late October, Moderna chief medical officer Tal Zaks explained that "Our vaccine creates antibodies in the body... which means that besides being a preventative vaccine, our product can also be used as treatment for people who've already been infected. We've shown that the product prevents the virus from replicating and improves the patient's condition."He added that he would be "very surprised if the vaccine doesn't work."Tobias Siegal contributed to this report.
