Another quarter, another cull for Moderna. The company snuck into its second-quarter earnings report (PDF) that development of an mRNA treatment for IL-2-based autoimmune disorders has ended.
Moderna reported that the program was stopping due to early clinical data and the “evolving competitive landscape.”
The news follows a string of Big Pharmas ending collaborations with the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based COVID-19 vaccine maker. First, in February, Merck ended a collaboration on a KRAS vaccine, which Moderna says it’s still evaluating. AstraZeneca piled on last week by backing away from a vascular endothelial growth factor A candidate. Similar to the KRAS program, Moderna said Wednesday that it was evaluating next steps.
Details on the data that resulted in the IL-2 cull are unknown, and a spokesperson for the company did not respond to a request for additional information as of publication. Changes in the clinical trial record show that from December 2021 to May 2022, Moderna shrunk the anticipated trial size from 112 patients to 52. The company also significantly reduced the number of planned treatment arms from 16 down to three.
Instead of administering eight different dose levels, Moderna elected to instead administer three, two ways: one as a single shot and another as a repeat dose (up to three doses) every two weeks.
The IL-2 cytokine helps proliferate T cells, including regulatory T cells, and has often been used to help invigorate the immune system to fight cancer cells. But at least for that use, companies have seen mixed results, including failures reported from Nektar Therapeutics. Sanofi is also working on an IL-2 recombinant molecule, SAR444245, for cancer in combination with Libtayo. At least one biotech, Bright Peak Therapeutics, is developing an enhanced Il-2 molecule to target autoimmune disorders.
Moderna’s IL-2 cull is not the first time the company has taken an ax to its non-COVID projects, having ditched a phase 2 cancer treatment in August 2021.