Merck invests in Moderna
Merck is investing $125 million in Moderna under a new deal that expands the firms’ 2016 partnership to develop messenger RNA cancer vaccines. The deal now includes shared antigen mRNA cancer vaccines including mRNA-5671, Moderna’s mRNA KRAS cancer vaccine, the firms noted. The two companies will now jointly advance mRNA-5671 in human studies , and combination studies with additional immuno-oncology therapies are also in the pipeline . Merck will be responsible for clinical development of mRNA-5671 and associated costs while Moderna will be responsible for clinical supply and linked costs. On completion of human proof-of-concept studies, Merck may opt-in on further development and commercialization of the vaccine on payment of an undisclosed fee to Moderna. “ Augmentation of immune responses offers great promise in cancer therapy, as our work with the PD-1-specific antibody Keytruda has shown ,” said Dr Roger M. Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories....