Merck CEO Rob Davis told CNBC on Wednesday that he expects the company’s breakthrough cancer vaccine to have Modern to achieve faster manufacturing over time.
Shortening the current six-week timeline could potentially help companies reach more patients.
“We’re going to work to make improvements, but right now the focus is really on making sure the supply is ready, the market is ready to bring this important innovation to market, and then we’ll discuss how we can accelerate,” he told CNBC in an exclusive interview. “But I think that over time, that time frame will shorten.”
Personalized cancer vaccine turnaround extends from sequencing a patient’s tumor to administering it in the hospital. Merck and Moderna’s vaccine is designed to target specific mutations in each patient’s tumor rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach, making its production complicated.
The idea is to train the immune system to recognize and kill these unique cancer markers, then combine that response with Merck’s blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda, which aims to help the body attack cancer more effectively.
Davis acknowledged that manufacturing the vaccine is a “complex system” but said Merck and Moderna view the process as “a very strict science.”
“I’m actually very confident that we won’t have any difficulty getting this to patients in a very reasonable time frame,” he added. “We do this in our clinics and I only see improvements in the future.”
His comments come after the two companies released the first positive data in August from a late-stage trial of the injection in combination with Keytruda in melanoma patients. Davis said the company is also examining the vaccine in trials for other tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer, types of bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma.
“You like to say maybe you can start talking about a cure,” he said. “We’re not there yet, but we’re moving in a truly unprecedented technological direction.”
Merck’s new R&D facility
Davis spoke to CNBC after Merck officially opened its new 120,000-square-foot research center, which it named Advance, on its West Point, Pennsylvania, campus on Wednesday. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro joined Merck executives and other government officials for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the launch of the facility, which features highly automated robotic systems and advanced digital AI capabilities.
Merck says the facility is designed to streamline the analysis of biological samples from the company’s ongoing pharmaceutical programs and to enhance its research and development.
The opening of the new facility comes as Merck is preparing for the upcoming loss of exclusivity for Keytruda, one of the world’s best-selling drugs and widely considered the backbone of modern cancer treatment. Keytruda’s primary U.S. patent expires in December 2028, while secondary patents extend protection through 2029 and beyond.
Merck has implemented a multi-tiered strategy to turn Keytruda’s transition into what it sees as a manageable “hill” rather than a steep drop in revenue. This includes accelerating internal research and also committing $65 billion in external acquisitions and licensing deals over five years to build its next-generation drug portfolio.
Robert Davis, CEO of Merck, testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building February 8, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The pharmaceutical giant is also developing new forms of Keytruda and combination regimens to which it can transition patients and protect revenues from the drug even after key patents expire before 2030.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the subcutaneous form of Keytruda in September 2025, which is considered a more convenient version because it is administered under the skin within minutes. The standard form of the medication is an intravenous infusion that lasts about 30 minutes.
But Merck faces a legal battle over the new version in some European markets, raising questions about the size of the drug’s market.
A Dutch court issued an injunction earlier this month preventing Merck from selling, storing or manufacturing subcutaneous Keytruda in eight European countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands. This followed a patent infringement suit brought by biotechnology company Halozyme Therapeutics over its own subcutaneous drug delivery platform.
Merck said it strongly disagreed with the decisions and planned to appeal. Patients can still receive the original form of Keytruda in Europe while the patent litigation plays out.
However, Halozyme also sued Merck for patent infringement in the United States, alleging that the subcutaneous formulation of Keytruda infringes 15 patents filed by the biotech since 2011.
Meanwhile, Merck is focused on rolling out a range of new drugs. That includes Winrevair, a treatment for a rare and potentially fatal lung disease that was approved in 2024 and acquired a few years earlier through the $11.5 billion acquisition of Acceleron.
Another closely watched launch is Merck’s cholesterol-lowering pill Lipfendra, which was approved by the FDA last month.
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