14:04 ET -- Moderna Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. are two of the most talked about companies in the U.S. across all news items in the last 12 hours, according to Factiva data. A customized Moderna cancer vaccine combined with Merck's immunotherapy cancer drug Keytruda helped ward off the recurrence of the skin cancer melanoma after surgery in patients in a mid-stage clinical trial, the companies said. The combination cut patients' risk of relapse or death by about 44%, versus Keytruda alone, in the 150-volunteer study. The results suggest promise for an emerging but unproven class of vaccines that aim to treat diseases rather than prevent infections like typical shots. Moderna and Merck plan to run a larger study to confirm the combination's safety and efficacy next year. The companies said they will also test the combination in other types of cancers. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva.(jennifer.tershak@wsj.com)

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 13, 2022 14:18 ET (19:18 GMT)

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