Merck CEO Rob Davis states cost is not a barrier to access for its investigational personalized cancer vaccine, Intismeran. Davis expressed confidence Merck can deliver the individualized therapy at scale.
Intismeran is an mRNA-based vaccine codeveloped with Moderna. It is tailored to each patient's tumor mutations. Merck administers Intismeran with its blockbuster immunotherapy, Keytruda. The vaccine recently showed positive Phase 3 results in delaying the recurrence of melanoma.
The personalized vaccine's manufacturing process currently takes six to nine weeks from tumor sequencing. Davis noted the current focus is on market and supply readiness. He anticipates the production timeline will shorten over time.