Moderna and Merck say personalized melanoma cancer vaccine worked in late-stage trial FDA approvals and complete responses letters, job cuts, a new FDA commissioner nomination, and more led the news this week. Brought to you byDDN editorial team +++

Moderna and Merck say personalized melanoma cancer vaccine worked in late-stage trial FDA approvals and complete responses letters, job cuts, a new FDA commissioner nomination, and more led the news this week. Brought to you byDDN editorial team https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/moderna-and-merck-say-personalized-melanoma-cancer-vaccine-worked-in-late-stage-trial-17470 Moderna’s mRNA cancer vaccine for melanoma coupled with Merck’s prized immunotherapy, Keytruda, successfully reduced the risk of recurrence and metastasis, according to press releases from the companies. No data was shared yet, and the statement says that the results will be presented at an upcoming international meeting. The announcement alone was enough to send shares of Moderna’s stock soaring up to 177 percent on Wednesday as the news ushered in the first time that an mRNA-based cancer vaccine has shown positive results, and the first time that a combination treatment with Keytruda was more efficacious than Keytruda alone. “These Phase 3 findings represent a pivotal moment for the field of cancer research. For many years, the idea of creating an mRNA treatment designed specifically for an individual patient's cancer was aspirational. We are now helping turn that vision into a reality,” said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, in the statement. – Allison Whitten Reengineering cancer vaccines for durable immune memory Therapeutic cancer vaccines are being reengineered to deliver stronger immune activation and longer-lasting protection against disease recurrence. Written byBree Foster, PhD https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/reengineering-cancer-vaccines-for-durable-immune-memory-17293?utm_campaign=DDN_Newsletter_Dose&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Io-EBMMnsfqcSKrbyQx5kp0RRwlnmPdIO8uAXCuzmOsusockrJx9RuVM1KPjOJ-0luwNayMicB62u3FY41-hk0bVRmw&_hsmi=434324652&utm_content=434324652&utm_source=hs_email When most people think of vaccines, they think of prevention — an injection that trains the immune system to produce antibodies against infectious diseases such as measles or polio. However, cancer vaccines are different. Vaccine generates durable immune responses in people at high risk for pancreatic cancer Results from Johns Hopkins show a synthetic peptide vaccine was safe and activated mutant-KRAS-specific T cells in 90 percent of participants, offering an early signal that cancer interception may be possible before disease develops. Written byAndrea Corona https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/vaccine-generates-durable-immune-responses-in-people-at-high-risk-for-pancreatic-cancer-17365?utm_campaign=DDN_Newsletter_Dose&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8WL6C0RRNg8xAnFF3JZID8wgD7JGFd3XRpOzB7rdZ6IwrJh7ZHqkj5XjBsCnt_7jL5r7eRTcCpZuWBt33ActpCpvIyZA&_hsmi=434324652&utm_content=434324652&utm_source=hs_email Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has one of the lowest five-year survival rates of any cancer, in large part because it is rarely caught early. Most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, when surgery is no longer an option and systemic treatment options remain limited. For the roughly 10 percent of cases driven by hereditary predisposition, high-risk individuals are currently managed through surveillance — watching and waiting for signs of transformation into cancer with few tools to intervene before that happens.