Moderna Inc. shares surged nearly 177% following a breakthrough in its personalized mRNA cancer vaccine trial with Merck & Co Inc.
Moderna Inc. shares experienced a record-breaking climb of nearly 177% on Wednesday, reaching a 52-week high of $176.66. The surge followed the announcement that its personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, developed in partnership with Merck & Co Inc., successfully met the primary goal in a Phase 3 late-stage trial for high-risk melanoma. The treatment, known as intismeran, was tested in combination with Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda. The trial demonstrated that patients who received the combination of the personalized vaccine and Keytruda lived meaningfully longer without cancer recurrence or spreading compared to those who received Keytruda alone. This landmark result marks the first positive Phase 3 result for a personalized neoantigen therapy and Moderna's mRNA cancer treatment. The vaccine is tailored to each patient's unique tumor mutations, using artificial intelligence to identify the specific mutations to be included. While the stock rallied on the news, analysts noted that the success of the oncology platform will depend on full dataset validation and evidence of efficacy across other tumor types. The companies are currently evaluating overall survival and testing the treatment across nine additional trials for various cancers.