Tempus Enters Multiyear Collaboration With Moderna, Merck Aimed at Commercializing Cancer Drug

By Kelly Cloonan

Tempus is doubling down on its work with Moderna and Merck under a new multiyear collaboration to support the potential commercialization of a cancer drug.

The healthcare-technology company said Wednesday the collaboration will focus on intismeran autogene, a therapy being evaluated in combination with Merck's Keytruda in patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma and other cancer types. Moderna and Merck are jointly developing intismeran autogene.

As part of the collaboration, Tempus will manage the collection and transfer of tumor tissue and blood samples required for next-generation sequencing, the company said. The collaboration expands work that Tempus initiated with Moderna and Merck last year.

Moderna said working with Tempus will allow it to use the company's commercial footprint and advanced sequencing capabilities to help it provide individualized neoantigen therapies at scale.

"Bringing an individualized therapy like intismeran autogene from clinical development toward potential commercialization requires a seamless, highly reliable diagnostic network," said Said Francis, Moderna's chief business officer and general manager, individualized neoantigen therapies.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 07, 2026 09:25 ET (13:25 GMT)