"Cure for Cancer Possible?" Stock Prices Surge Following Successful Phase 3 Trial of "Customized Cancer Vaccine"

[Anchor]

Recently, multinational pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck announced that they successfully completed Phase 3 clinical trials for a vaccine that prevents cancer recurrence and metastasis. As global attention focuses on the development, the stock prices of these companies have surged.

What kind of vaccine is this, and how is it different from existing anticancer drugs? Let's discuss this with guest reporter Cho Dong-chan, a special professor at Hanyang University. Reporter Cho, could you first explain the significance of this cancer vaccine? What does this clinical trial success mean?

[Reporter]

Let me start by explaining the principle. Everyone calls this a hand.

However, fingerprints are different for everyone.

Even for cancers with the same name, the genes differ from person to person.

Yet, the exact same anticancer drugs have been used.

As a result, the treatment worked for some patients while failing for others.

In contrast, this new cancer vaccine extracts a tumor mass from an individual patient and creates an injection based on it.

This marks a milestone achieved 9 years after 2017.

The research team described it as a medicine tailored like a personal fingerprint.

While personalized anticancer drugs tailored to individual patients already exist for certain blood cancers, this is the first time the technology can be broadly applied to skin cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer, and more.

[Anchor]

You explained that it is a customized vaccine. How does it work specifically?

[Reporter]

Let me explain using an actual clinical trial patient as an example.

He is a 52-year-old male who participated in clinical trials in the UK. He is a music teacher and had a 4mm-thick malignant melanoma on his skin, which was surgically removed.

When comparing this patient's tumor mass with his normal tissue, mutations that occurred exclusively in his cancer appear.

Among these, up to 34 mutations that immune cells can easily recognize as targets are selected.

How effectively these are selected is the core of this technology.

Using these 34 mutations as raw material, an injection was created utilizing the mRNA technology used to make COVID-19 vaccines.

When this injection enters a patient's body, it generates new immune cells against the cancer or activates existing anticancer immune cells.

This is how it prevents cancer recurrence and metastasis.

[Anchor]

I am also curious about how it differs from existing anticancer drugs.

What is the difference?

[Reporter]

Cancer cells cunningly block the view of immune cells.

That is why existing immunotherapies were developed.

They take off the blindfolds of immune cells so they can better detect cancer cells.

On the other hand, this new cancer vaccine generates new immune cells tailored precisely to an individual's cancer.

Since their mechanisms differ, using both together would be ideal.

That is correct; this vaccine trial demonstrated the effects of using both combined.

[Anchor]

There must be many patients eagerly awaiting commercialization. Here is the most crucial question.

Does this mean treating cancer is finally becoming possible?

[Reporter]

For now, Moderna and Merck have not yet disclosed the specific data from the Phase 3 clinical trial.

Therefore, based on the Phase 2 results announced in June, 157 high-risk cutaneous melanoma patients who completed surgery were studied: 50 were treated with existing anticancer drugs alone, while 107 were treated with a combination of existing immunotherapy and the new cancer vaccine.

When observed 5 years later, the rate at which patients survived without cancer recurrence increased significantly from 49% to 69%.

Commercialization could potentially happen next year.

However, since this vaccine primarily prevents cancer recurrence and metastasis, we need to observe further results to see if it can also serve as a primary treatment.

[Anchor]

We will have to wait and see what kind of innovation this brings.

Thank you for the insights.

(Video Editing: Lee So-young, Design: Jeon Yu-geun)

Reporter Cho Dong-chan
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.