New data

The tailored mRNA vaccine is intismeran (or mRNA-4157), which uses a synthetic mRNA that holds the unique genetic coding for up to 34 mutations in a patient’s own cancer cells. To produce the personalized vaccines, researchers compare the genetic sequences of a patient’s cancer cells with those of healthy cells and pick out cancer-specific mutations that could help the immune response selectively target just the cancer cells.

In the trial, researchers assessed “recurrence-free survival” or RFS, which is the amount of time a patient has without the cancer returning, and “distant metastasis-free survival” or DMFS, which is the amount of time a patient has without the cancer returning and occurring in a different part of the body than where it began.

According to the rushed-out press release, after two years, participants in the trial who received the intismeran-Keytruda treatment had 42 percent reduction in their risk of recurrence or death compared to the participants who just got Keytruda and a…