Merck, Moderna in personalized cancer vaccine deal

Moderna Therapeutics Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) and Merck & Co. Inc.(NYSE:MRK) partnered to develop and commercialize mRNA-based cancer vaccines that encode patient-specific neoantigens. Merck will pay Moderna $200 million up front, which Moderna will use for R&D through proof of concept (POC). Moderna spokesperson Liz Melone declined to disclose details about the company's personalized cancer vaccine technology.

Beginning next year, Merck and Moderna plan to start clinical studies of the personalized vaccines in several cancer types, including combinations with Merck's PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda pembrolizumab. ...