A ~50% Improvement, In Melanoma Five Year Survival Rate Is... Pretty Darn Impressive!

Merck, and its development partner Moderna are quite rightly taking a deep bow, on this one. When coupled to pembrolizumab therapy, the combo sees a 50% improvement in five year survival odds for people living with various melanoma diagnoses. Wow!

Here's the latest -- from Fierce Biotech:

. . .Adding Merck & Co. and Moderna’s vaccine candidate to Keytruda has continued to cut the risk of cancer recurrence or death across five years of follow-up, boosting the companies’ prospects as they close in on phase 3 data.

The five-year results come from a phase 2b study that tested intismeran autogene in combination with Merck’s Keytruda in people with high-risk melanoma after complete resection. Compared to single-agent Keytruda, the combination cut the risk of recurrence or death by 44% after two years and by 49% after three years.

Tuesday, Merck and Moderna said the risk reduction after five years was 49%. The partners have yet to share data on other endpoints, such as the risk of distant metastasis or death, that were included in the earlier analyses. . . .

Onward, grinning -- to catch a jet to the High Rockies now.

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