US pharmaceutical company Moderna plans to launch vaccine against malignant melanoma on the market
The US pharmaceutical company Moderna is hoping to launch a vaccine against black skin cancer in two years' time. "We expect that the product could be on the market in some countries by 2025 with accelerated approval," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told the AFP news agency in an interview. The vaccine is intended to treat malignant melanoma, the most malignant form of skin cancer.
The cancer vaccine developed by Moderna is based on mRNA technology, which has already been used in the coronavirus vaccines from Moderna and the Mainz-based company Biontech. In both cases, the vaccines are designed to activate the immune system. However, the cancer vaccine is not directed against a pathogen such as the coronavirus, but against the body's own cancer cells. According to the company, patients who already have skin cancer and who have had melanomas removed are to be treated. The vaccine should ensure that the cancer does not return.
So-called therapeutic vaccines are one of the great hopes in oncology, said Bancel. It is a matter of "immunotherapy 2.0". In conventional immunotherapy, patients are administered an antibody drug, such as Keytruda from the US pharmaceutical company MSD.
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Moderna's vaccine against malignant melanoma, a type of skin cancer, could potentially be approved for use in select countries by 2025. This marks a significant step for the US pharmaceutical group's plans to combat black skin cancer using their mRNA technology. If successful, the vaccine is expected to help prevent the return of skin cancer in patients who have undergone melanoma removal surgeries.
Source: www.ntv.de
