Moderna at Morgan Stanley conference: oncology gains and vaccine growth

On Monday, the 14th of September, 2026, Moderna delivered a strategic update at the Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference. The focus was on the company's dual approach, with promising progress in oncology and growth in its vaccine business. Moderna highlighted a positive melanoma study for its personalized cancer vaccine, intismeran, demonstrating the first statistically significant and clinically meaningful adjuvant benefit seen against KEYTRUDA in this setting.

The company maintained its 2028 break-even target and announced that its vaccine portfolio now includes five approved products. Moderna reported that it had treated approximately 3,000 patients with intismeran across over 40 countries, showcasing commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities. The Marlborough, Massachusetts plant has the potential to expand capacity sevenfold within 12 months of lead time and is expected to support early launches without the need for a second facility.

Moderna anticipates a series of oncology data releases over the coming years, including readouts from lung cancer, melanoma, kidney cancer, and bladder cancer studies. The Phase III adjuvant melanoma result for intismeran, or INT, was deemed the most significant development. Stephen Hoge, Moderna's President, termed the study's findings "a statistically significant and clinically meaningful result," emphasizing that it was "the first time anybody's ever achieved that kind of benefit over KEYTRUDA in the adjuvant setting in melanoma."

Hoge stressed that the melanoma data hold broader implications for the company's oncology platform, potentially validating its approach in other cancers and guiding future development decisions.