A Clinical Study of Intismeran Autogene (V940) and Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) in People With Melanoma (V940-012/INTerpath-012)

Recruiting now · Phase 2 · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Malignant Melanoma

In brief

Researchers want to learn if intismeran autogene with pembrolizumab can stop advanced melanoma from growing or spreading. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. Advanced means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body and cannot be removed with surgery. A standard (or usual) treatment for advanced melanoma is immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is a treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer. Intismeran autogene is a study treatment designed to help a person's immune system attack their specific cancer. Pembrolizumab is an immunotherapy. The goal of this study is to learn if people who receive intismeran autogene with pembrolizumab live longer without the cancer growing or spreading than people who receive placebo with pembrolizumab. A placebo looks like the study treatment but has no study treatment in it. Using a placebo helps researchers better understand the effects of a study treatment.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT06961006
Run by: Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
People needed: 160
Starts: 2025-05-29
Expected to finish: 2031-09-05
Last updated by the study team: 2026-07-02

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

The main inclusion criteria include but are not limited to the following:
Has unresectable and histologically confirmed Stage III or IV cutaneous melanoma per American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Eighth Edition guidelines.
Has been untreated for melanoma except if participant received prior adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy with targeted therapy or immunotherapy (such as anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein [CTLA-4], anti-programmed cell death 1 protein [PD-1] therapy or interferon), and only if relapse did not occur within 12 months after treatment discontinuation.
Have documentation of serine/threonine-protein kinase B-raf (BRAF) V600-activating mutation status or had BRAF V600 mutation testing per local institutional standards during the screening period (participants with BRAF mutation positive melanoma as well as BRAF wild-type or unknown are eligible).
Have the presence of at least 1 measurable lesion by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) per Response Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1) as determined by the local site investigator/radiology assessment.
Provides tumor tissue (preferably from a metastatic site and, if not available, from the primary tumor) that is suitable for next generation sequencing and biomarker analysis as required for this study.
Participants with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) must have well controlled HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Participants who are hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive are eligible if they have received hepatitis B virus (HBV) antiviral therapy for at least 4 weeks, and have undetectable HBV viral load prior to randomization.
Participants with history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are eligible if HCV viral load is undetectable at screening.

You may not qualify if…

The main exclusion criteria include but are not limited to the following:
Has clinically significant heart failure, defined as New York Heart Association class III or IV, within the past 6 months, unless the disease is well controlled in the opinion of the investigator.
HIV-infected participants with a history of Kaposi's sarcoma and/or Multicentric Castleman's Disease.
Has ocular or mucosal melanoma.
Received transfusion of blood products (including platelets or red blood cells) or administration of colony-stimulating factors (including granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, or recombinant erythropoietin) within 2 weeks of the Screening blood sample (including the blood sample for V940 generation).
Received prior therapy with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-PD-L2 agent, or with an agent directed to another stimulatory or coinhibitory T-cell receptor (eg, CTLA-4, lymphocyte activation gene 3 [LAG-3], tumor necrosis factor receptors [OX-40 or CD137]), with some exceptions.
Received prior systemic anticancer therapy for melanoma before randomization, with some exceptions.
Received prior radiotherapy within 2 weeks of start of study intervention or has ongoing radiation related toxicities.
Received a live or live-attenuated vaccine within 30 days before the first dose of study intervention.
Received prior treatment with another universal or personalized cancer vaccine.

Where it is running

Highlands Oncology Group ( Site 4042) — Springdale, Arkansas, United States (enrolling)
UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay ( Site 4044) — San Francisco, California, United States (enrolling)
John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center ( Site 4047) — Hackensack, New Jersey, United States (enrolling)
Inova Schar Cancer Institute ( Site 4046) — Fairfax, Virginia, United States (enrolling)
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center ( Site 4041) — Seattle, Washington, United States (enrolling)
Blacktown Hospital ( Site 2001) — Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia (enrolling)
Melanoma Institute Australia ( Site 2000) — Wollstonecraft, New South Wales, Australia (enrolling)
One Clinical Research ( Site 2002) — Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia (enrolling)
William Osler Health System (Brampton Civic Hospital) ( Site 2023) — Brampton, Ontario, Canada (enrolling)
Sunnybrook Research Institute ( Site 2022) — Toronto, Ontario, Canada (enrolling)
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice - Hôpital l'Archet-Dermatology Department ( Site 2042) — Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France (enrolling)
Hôpital Saint-Louis ( Site 2041) — Paris, Île-de-France Region, France (enrolling)
Gustave Roussy ( Site 2040) — Villejuif, Île-de-France Region, France (enrolling)
NCT ( Site 2065) — Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany (enrolling)
Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt Goethe-Universität ( Site 2063) — Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany (enrolling)
Universitaetsklinikum Koeln ( Site 2064) — Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (enrolling)
Universitaetsklinikum Essen ( Site 2061) — Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (enrolling)
Universitaetsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf ( Site 2060) — Hamburg, Germany (enrolling)
General Hospital of Athens "Laiko" ( Site 2080) — Athens, Attica, Greece (enrolling)
Metropolitan Hospital ( Site 2082) — Athens, Attica, Greece (enrolling)
European Interbalkan Medical Center ( Site 2081) — Thessaloniki, Greece (enrolling)
HaEmek Medical Center ( Site 3003) — Afula, Israel (enrolling)
Hadassah Medical Center ( Site 3001) — Jerusalem, Israel (enrolling)
Rabin Medical Center ( Site 3002) — Petah Tikva, Israel (enrolling)
Sheba Medical Center ( Site 3000) — Ramat Gan, Israel (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.