Clinical Daily Summary: What Happened on October 23, 2026

Moderna’s personalized vaccine lowers melanoma recurrence risk with Keytruda

Adding intismeran autogene to adjuvant Keytruda lowered the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% compared with Keytruda alone in a Phase 3 trial.1 The result was statistically significant, with a hazard ratio of 0.58 and P<0.001.1

The trial did not compare the combination with strategies that start immunotherapy before surgery.1 The vaccine is designed around mutations specific to each patient’s tumor.5

Tango reports an 82% response rate with a pancreatic cancer combination

Tango reported tumor responses in 82% of patients with a particular type of advanced pancreatic cancer who received its experimental drug with Rasonque.2 At nine months, 88% of patients were alive without their tumors progressing.2

The reported regimen does not include chemotherapy.2

Lutikizumab meets Phase 3 endpoint, with an 8-point placebo-adjusted response

AbbVie’s lutikizumab met the primary endpoint in the Phase 3 INTREPID trial for hidradenitis suppurativa, a chronic inflammatory skin disease.34 At week 16, 31.4% of participants on lutikizumab achieved HiSCR75, a reduction of at least 75% in inflamed bumps and abscesses, compared with 23.4% on placebo.34

Leerink analysts said the roughly eight-percentage-point difference was below the 17% to 20% response rate they believed investors expected, creating uncertainty about the result’s implications for the drug and the IL-1 pathway.3 AbbVie said the trial also met eight secondary endpoints, including measures of pain and flares, and that adverse-event rates were similar between groups.34

Also worth knowing

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  In a 580-patient lymphoma cohort, a higher share of naive-like T cells in axicabtagene ciloleucel products was associated with longer progression-free survival. Researchers observed the association in an independent validation cohort as well.6

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  A Phase 2 trial of the KRAS-targeted vaccine camupepimut in 144 people with resected pancreatic cancer missed its primary disease-free survival endpoint. Median survival was 23.8 months with the vaccine and 21.2 months under observation.7

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  Alnylam said the highest brezosiran dose lowered mutant huntingtin levels in spinal fluid by an average of 60% or 64%, depending on the assay. The company plans a placebo-controlled study next year.8

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  Roche removed its experimental donor-cell CAR-T candidate RG6540 from its Phase 1 pipeline on October 22, along with six other drugs. CEO Thomas Schinecker said other CD19/CD20 candidates from the Poseida acquisition were better.9

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  An indirect analysis of Phase 3 trial data associated Lilly’s orforglipron with greater 52-week reductions in body weight and HbA1c than oral semaglutide. Direct comparisons are needed to establish the clinical importance of the differences.10

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  GFAP measured within 24 hours of injury may help identify traumatic brain injury patients with abnormalities missed by an initial CT scan, a study found. The finding needs further validation.11

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  Early Phase 1 and initial Phase 2 results for invikafusp alfa showed objective responses in 4 of 27 people treated at the selected biological doses. The trial continues in Phase 2.12

Also published

• ACT Brief: Orchestrated AI Clinical Environments, eSource Coordinator Satisfaction, and Faster Clinical Trials Act Applied Clinical Trials
• Granata Bio concludes screening in Phase III GRACE trial for IVF Clinical Trials Arena
• ESMO26: Moderna, MSD reveal cancer jab data early after leak pharmaphorum
• Moderna, Merck shares fall on eagerly anticipated cancer vaccine results BioPharma Dive
• Roche’s pharma sales grow 7% but pipeline trimmed down  Pharmaceutical Technology