Moderna shares soar 135% in a day after cancer vaccine succeeds in late-stage trial

Moderna's shares experienced a significant surge of approximately 135%, reaching $148.02 on Wednesday following the success of its personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, developed in collaboration with Merck. The vaccine, known as Intismeran, demonstrated reduced risks of melanoma recurrence and spread in a late-stage trial when combined with Merck's Keytruda, according to Reuters.

The trial's interim results revealed that the treatment met its primary objective of minimizing cancer recurrence and its secondary goal of preventing tumor spread to other body parts, compared to Keytruda alone. This marks the first successful late-stage trial of an mRNA cancer vaccine, and the first study to demonstrate that adding another treatment to Keytruda proved more effective than Keytruda alone for patients with surgically removed melanoma.

Merck's shares also rose by 11% to $150.14 in early trading, presenting a potential growth opportunity for both companies. Moderna seeks diversification beyond its COVID-19 vaccine, while Merck anticipates the loss of patent protection for Keytruda later this decade. Analyst Myles Minter from William Blair stated that the interim results position both companies well for seeking regulatory approval and may encourage discussions with regulators in the coming months.

According to Barclays analysts, the therapy could generate approximately $3 billion in melanoma-related sales by 2035. Pricing for Intismeran remains undecided, but the treatment's scalability and lower manufacturing costs compared to patient-specific cell therapies could help Moderna regain profitability. The trial, which enrolled 1,137 high-risk patients with stage IIB to stage IV melanoma, found no new safety concerns during its progression.

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel mentioned that the latest data had only recently become available, preventing a decision on the treatment's pricing.