E-Paper
Moderna stock jumps 120% after cancer vaccine trial win: What investors need to know
Moderna stock surged after its mRNA cancer vaccine showed positive Phase 3 results with Merck’s Keytruda, boosting hopes for a new melanoma treatment.
Moderna’s stock is soaring after major cancer vaccine news. Moderna and Merck said on Wednesday that their experimental personalized cancer vaccine showed positive results in its first-ever Phase 3 trial. The news pushed Moderna shares up more than 120% in morning trading.
Merck’s stock also jumped sharply. Merck shares rose more than 10% after the companies announced the trial results. The huge move in Moderna stock is linked to the size of the two companies. Merck had a market value of around $333 billion before the jump, while Moderna’s market value was around $25 billion. This means the same positive news can create a much bigger percentage move for Moderna, according to CNBC.
mRNA cancer vaccine trial
The cancer vaccine is being developed by Moderna and Merck. The treatment combines Moderna’s personalized mRNA cancer vaccine with Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda. The Phase 3 trial involved more than 1,100 patients. The patients had higher-risk melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer, that had been removed through surgery but still carried a risk of returning.
The treatment met the main goal of the trial. The vaccine-plus-Keytruda combination significantly increased the amount of time patients lived without their melanoma coming back, compared with patients who received Keytruda alone. The treatment also lowered the risk of the cancer spreading. The combination reduced the risk of melanoma spreading to distant parts of the body, according to the companies.
Also read: Why is Marvell stock surging? Google’s $12.2 billion AI chip deal explained
Moderna stock surge
Moderna’s CEO called the results a major moment. “It’s a big moment for medicine, a big moment for patients,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC’s Squawk Box. The Phase 3 study will continue to look at other important results, including whether the treatment helps patients live longer overall.
Overall survival is still being studied. The companies have shown that the treatment can help patients stay free of a return of melanoma, but the trial still needs to assess the impact on overall survival. The companies plan to present the full data later. Merck and Moderna said they plan to present the trial results at an upcoming international medical meeting.
US cancer vaccine approval
It is not yet clear when the vaccine will be submitted for approval in the US. The companies have not announced a specific date for filing applications with US regulators. Dr. Dean Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, told CNBC’s Squawk Box that the companies will likely begin discussions with regulatory agencies about the treatment and its safety within the next few months.
Melanoma treatment
The early Phase 3 results suggest that the personalized vaccine combined with Keytruda could become a new treatment option for some melanoma patients. Melanoma is a small part of all skin cancers but causes many deaths. Melanoma accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers, but it causes the large majority of deaths from skin cancer, according to the report.
Also read: Why is SK Hynix buying back $28.61 billion in shares amid the AI boom?
Personalized cancer vaccine
The new treatment is designed to target each patient’s specific cancer. Unlike a traditional one-size-fits-all treatment, the vaccine is personalized for the mutations found in an individual patient’s tumour. Every tumour can have different mutations. Healy said that even patients who have the same type of cancer can have different sets of mutations in their tumours.
The vaccine uses those unique mutations to train the immune system. The idea is to teach the patient’s immune system to recognise the specific markers on their cancer cells and attack them. Keytruda is then used alongside the vaccine. The personalized vaccine is designed to trigger a targeted immune response, while Keytruda helps the immune system attack the cancer more effectively, according to CNBC.
The success is especially important for Moderna because cancer vaccines are a major part of its future plans. Investors had already been watching the personalized cancer vaccine closely before Wednesday’s results. Analysts had called the Phase 3 results a make-or-break event for Moderna. Leerink Partners analyst Mani Foroohar wrote in a June note that the Phase 3 results were a major test for Moderna’s stock.
Analysts said Moderna’s valuation before Wednesday’s jump already reflected hopes that the personalized cancer vaccine could eventually work against multiple types of cancer, not just melanoma. That is why Wednesday’s results are so important for Moderna. The positive Phase 3 data give investors evidence that the company’s personalized mRNA cancer vaccine technology can work in a late-stage clinical trial.
The positive Phase 3 results have given Moderna a major boost, strengthening hopes that its personalized mRNA cancer vaccine could become an important part of its future. However, more trial data and regulatory steps are still needed before the treatment can reach patients in the US.
