00:00Now to a story that could redefine how the world fights cancer.
00:05Pharma giants Merck and Moderna have announced that their personalized mRNA cancer vaccine
00:12that has cleared phase 3 human trials for melanoma.
00:15And this will be the first time an individualized cancer vaccine built entirely from the patient's own tumor
00:23has succeeded at its final stage of testing.
00:26Combined with the immunotherapy drug, which is Keytruda.
00:30The vaccine has shown it can delay cancer from returning and also stop it from spreading to other organs.
00:37But what exactly does it do? How does it do it?
00:42And why should it matter to people even beyond the melanoma?
00:47Why is Moderna's own CEO calling this the biggest moment as big as COVID vaccine?
00:53Let's break it down.
00:56Now four letters, four letters that could change how cancer is treated in this country.
01:02And those are MRNA.
01:04This is the tech, which is not to remember.
01:07But, you know, we've seen this before in the COVID vaccines and some other cases as well.
01:11But this is now being used by Moderna and Merck for melanoma.
01:15And this could change the way the world treats cancer.
01:19So what exactly is this technology?
01:21Let's break it down because it's genuinely fascinating.
01:23Now imagine somebody who has just had a tumor, surgically removed it, and that tumor goes for a biopsy.
01:31From that biopsy, the doctors take out the sample and read its mutations, a specific genetic marker unique to that
01:38person's cancer.
01:39Those markers are then coded into a vaccine, and that vaccine is injected back into the patient's body.
01:46Not to attack cancer directly with chemicals, but to train your own immune system and recognize and fight it.
01:55It's personalization of medicine in the truest sense.
02:00It's like your own personal AI fighting the cancer that your body otherwise could not.
02:06This is built entirely around one person's own tumor.
02:10Combined with Getruda, remember, the immunotherapy drug already used in melanoma treatment.
02:15This vaccine does two things, like I said.
02:18It helps delay the cancer from returning, and it also helps stop it from spreading to other organs.
02:25Now, does this sound like a game changer?
02:28Well, it does.
02:28But let's look at what the actual trial data tells us.
02:32The trial has been done on 1,137 high-risk melanoma patients who were part of the phase 3 trials,
02:41all the way spanning from stage 2b, all the way to stage 4.
02:45The results have been promising, but the exact percentages have not been made public yet.
02:50The company is saving those for presentations before medical peers and regulatory bodies.
02:55But what about side effects?
02:57Well, the company is not saying anything major so far.
03:01They've reported fatigue, chills, and pain at the injection site as one of those side effects being reported.
03:09And the markers have already reacted.
03:13Now, the Moderna's shares there have jumped over 100% in a single day of trade right after the announcement
03:22was made on the successful phase 3 trial of this vaccine.
03:26The biggest, biggest day gain that we've seen in the company's history, a sign of just how significant investors believe
03:35this breakthrough could be.
03:36And now, here is why this matters to all of us, even those whose cancer goes beyond melanoma.
03:46Moderna's CEO has called this as big as the moment of COVID vaccine breakthrough.
03:49And that is because scientists believe that if this technology works on melanoma, works for melanoma, the same could be
03:57used in other kinds of cancers as well.
04:00For example, lung, for example, kidney, for example, bladder cancer as well.
04:04The possibilities are endless.
04:07And that is what makes this breakthrough so exciting, especially when you consider that the American Cancer Society has already
04:16estimated the numbers.
04:18Let me jog your memory there.
04:19According to the American Cancer Society, every second man and every third woman is likely to develop cancer in their
04:28lifetime.
04:28And that's a number that is a scary one.
04:31So this can, this entire vaccine comes as a huge ray of hope with numbers like this and personalized vaccine
04:38approach now showing great results.
04:40This space is worth watching out for and some great breakthroughs are only in the pipeline.
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