---
title: "mRNA Vaccine for Skin Cancer: Moderna and Merck Announce Historic Phase III Trial Success"
description: "On August 19, Moderna and Merck announced the successful completion of Phase III of an mRNA vaccine against melanoma: a combined regimen with a 49% reduction in recurrence risk paves the way for licensing personalized cancer therapy."
date: 2026-08-19T22:59:41.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/mrna-vaccine-for-skin-cancer-moderna-merck-phase-iii-success
tags: [moderna, merck, mrna-vaccine, melanoma, cancer-treatment, clinical-trials, personalized-medicine]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# mRNA Vaccine for Skin Cancer: Moderna and Merck Announce Historic Phase III Trial Success

![Doctor in sterile gloves administering an mRNA skin cancer vaccine injection by Moderna and Merck into a patient's shoulder](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/20/mrna-vakcina-ot-raka-kozhi-moderna-merck-uspeshnye-ispytaniya/mrna-vakcina-ot-raka-kozhi-moderna-merck-uspeshnye-ispytaniya-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Moderna and Merck announced on August 19, 2026, positive Phase III results for an mRNA vaccine against melanoma (INTerpath-001 trial, more than 1,100 patients).
- The combined regimen (vaccine + intismeran + Keytruda) improved recurrence-free survival; at an earlier stage a 49% reduction in recurrence risk was recorded.
- The therapy is personalized: algorithms select up to 34 abnormal proteins for encoding into mRNA; safety is comparable to typical post-vaccination reactions.
- The companies are preparing data for a conference and a submission to regulators; the success supports nine other cancer studies (lung, bladder, kidney).
- There are inconsistencies in the sources: an anomalous figure for Moderna's share growth (~160%) and the erroneous labeling of Keytruda as an "immunodepressant."

On August 19, 2026, pharmaceutical giants Moderna and Merck officially announced positive results from the Phase III clinical trial of their mRNA vaccine against skin cancer. This event is regarded by the medical community as a historic milestone: for the first time, a personalized neoantigen therapy based on mRNA has passed large-scale trials, opening real prospects for licensing and implementation in clinical practice. The success of the trial named INTerpath-001, which involved more than 1,100 patients with advanced melanoma who had undergone complete tumor removal surgery, confirms that an individualized approach to treating cancer is moving from the experimental to the evidence-based category.

### How personalized mRNA therapy works

Unlike traditional protocols that apply a single treatment plan to all patients, this therapy is tailored individually. Specialists sequence genes from a specific patient's tumor sample and compare them with healthy cells to identify specific mutations. Computer algorithms then select up to 34 abnormal proteins capable of triggering the strongest immune response and encode them into a synthetic mRNA sequence in the vaccine. When administered, the vaccine trains the immune system to recognize these mutations, while the immunotherapy drug Keytruda breaks down the barrier that prevents immune cells from attacking the tumor. In the trial, patients were divided into groups: one received a combined regimen with the experimental vaccine, the autogene intismeran, and Keytruda, while the other received Keytruda only.

### Results: reduced risk of recurrence and metastasis

By the end of Phase III, the combined treatment regimen demonstrated a significant improvement in recurrence-free survival, as well as the ability to prevent the cancer from metastasizing to other organs. Professor Georgina Long from the Australian Skin Cancer Institute confirmed that this is the first Phase III clinical trial to show that combining personalized therapy with immunotherapy significantly reduces the risk of death or recurrence compared to standard protocols. Earlier five-year follow-up at an earlier stage of the trials also recorded a 49% reduction in the risk of recurrence.

### Safety and post-vaccination reactions

Preliminary safety data indicate that the combination of the vaccine and the immunotherapy drug did not cause any unusual side effects. Common mild-to-moderate reactions include fatigue, pain at the injection site, and chills — manifestations comparable to typical post-vaccination reactions to other widely used vaccines. This is an important argument in favor of the therapy's tolerability for regulatory authorities.

### Prospects beyond melanoma and regulatory steps

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel stated that the new results "brought to life the dream of creating personalized mRNA vaccines for every cancer patient." The success goes beyond melanoma and strengthens confidence in nine other ongoing studies of dangerous types of cancer, including lung, bladder, and kidney cancer. Both companies plan to present detailed data at an upcoming international medical conference and begin working with regulatory authorities to obtain marketing authorization in the coming months.

### Contradictory data

There are inconsistencies in open sources that require attention. First, a number of publications (in particular, the outlet expert.ru) report that Moderna's shares "surged by almost 160%" against the backdrop of the successful trial, whereas other specialized sources (vietnam.vn, inform.kz, rbc.ru) do not confirm such an anomalous spike, which looks atypical for a one-day market reaction to a medical news item and may contain an error in the figure. Second, in the section describing safety, one of the original sources mistakenly calls the immunotherapy drug Keytruda an "immunodepressant," which contradicts its actual mechanism of action (inhibition of immune system checkpoints) and the terminology used in the main trial materials. Both versions are presented openly for the reader's assessment.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [New-generation vaccine against skin cancer successfully passed trials.](https://www.vietnam.vn/ru/thu-nghiem-thanh-cong-vaccine-ung-thu-da-the-he-moi) - Подтверждает успех III фазы, персонализированный подход и контекст без аномальных рыночных цифр.
- [Moderna's vaccine could change the treatment of some types of cancer](https://www.inform.kz/ru/vaktsina-moderna-mozhet-izmenit-lechenie-nekotorih-vidov-raka-6ec102ae) - Подтверждает смену парадигмы в лечении ряда онкозаболеваний на основе мРНК.
- [Scientists see a new era in cancer treatment in Moderna's vaccine](https://www.rbc.ru/technology_and_media/19/08/2026/6a85eb1a9a7947169bc582db) - Подтверждает оценку экспертов о «новой эре» в онкологии; дата публикации 19.08.2026.
- [Moderna's shares surged by almost 160% against the backdrop of a successful cancer vaccine trial](https://expert.ru/news/aktsii-moderna-podskochili-pochti-na-160-na-fone-uspeshnogo-ispytaniya-vaktsiny-ot-raka) - Подтверждает успех испытания, однако цифра роста акций ~160% выглядит аномально и не подтверждается другими источниками; в статью не включена, отражена в блоке противоречий.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: What exactly did the trials of the mRNA vaccine against skin cancer confirm?
**A:** Phase III of the INTerpath-001 trial (more than 1,100 patients with melanoma) showed that the combined regimen with the experimental mRNA vaccine, the autogene intismeran, and the drug Keytruda significantly improves recurrence-free survival and reduces the risk of metastasis compared to Keytruda monotherapy.

### Q: How does this therapy differ from standard treatment?
**A:** It is personalized: the patient's tumor genes are sequenced, algorithms select up to 34 abnormal proteins and encode them into the vaccine's mRNA, which trains the immune system to recognize the mutations, while Keytruda removes the barrier to the tumor attack.

### Q: What are the side effects and what comes next?
**A:** Side effects are mild to moderate (fatigue, pain at the injection site, chills), comparable to typical post-vaccination reactions. The companies plan to present the data at an international conference and begin working with regulators to obtain marketing authorization in the coming months.