Merck and Moderna announced on Monday the launch of their Phase III clinical trial to evaluate the combination of immunotherapy and messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in the treatment of lung cancer.

The two partners specify that the study plans to combine Keytruda, Merck's flagship antibody, with Moderna's V940 vaccine (mRNA-4157), designed to teach patients' immune systems to identify and destroy cancer cells.

The trial - dubbed 'INTerpath-002' - is scheduled to enroll 1,089 previously operated patients with stage II, IIIA or IIIB non-small-cell cancer.

Merck and Moderna stress that recruitment has already begun in Australia, before being launched at 38 different sites in 13 other countries.

Following this announcement, Moderna gained around 1.2% on the Nasdaq.

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