Replies to post #13939 on Moderna Inc (MRNA)

[jondoeuk]

Can DCVax-L activate NK cells to eliminate cancer cells

Even if true, cancer cells can shed MICA/B as a mechanism to evade immune surveillance [1]. They can also downregulate NKG2DLs [2-3]. On top of this, TGF-b signaling converts NKs into (intermediate) type 1 innate lymphoid cells [4]. I could go on.

Can we expect a cure for cancer once CSF1R inhibitor is included?

There are TAM (sub)populations that are either less sensitive or resistant to CSF-1(R) targeted therapies. In this paper, they show that CD163hi macrophages are resistant to CSF-1 targeted therapy, and drive both primary and secondary resistance [5]. High frequency correlates with higher risk of relapse [6], predicts poor response to ICI [7], and poor survival [8-12].

BTW, it is a good idea to picture the scenario that Merck will decouple with Moderna sometime soon.

Additional trials testing MRNA's personalised neoantigen vaccine with MRK's Keytruda are planned.

Refs:
1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33363734/
2 https://molecular-cancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12943-019-0956-8
3 https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/12/12/3827
4 https://www.nature.com/articles/ni.3800
5 https://jitc.bmj.com/content/11/3/e006433
6 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32082570/
7 https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(16)30215-X
8 https://wjso.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12957-021-02299-y
9 https://www.nature.com/articles/bjc2014446
10 https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2407-12-306
11 https://www.oncotarget.com/article/15736/text/
12 https://www.oncotarget.com/article/20244/text/

[axelvento]

BTW, it is a good idea to picture the scenario that Merck will decouple with Moderna sometime soon.

Under the current collaboration, the two companies share the costs and any potential profits equally under the collaboration—a true 50/50 partnership.