Moderna, Merck Shares Soar on Cancer Vaccine Trial Success

An experimental personalized mRNA vaccine developed by Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Merck & Company (NYSE:MRK) successfully prevented skin cancer from returning in a late-stage clinical trial, sending shares of both drugmakers surging on Wednesday (August 19).

The Phase 3 study evaluated the personalized vaccine, named intismeran, in combination with Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda against Keytruda alone in 1,137 high-risk melanoma patients who had undergone surgery to remove their tumors.

The combination regimen met its primary endpoint by significantly extending recurrence-free survival and achieved its secondary goal of reducing the risk of cancer metastasizing to distant organs.

The findings sparked a massive rally for both companies.

Moderna shares surged as much as 177 percent to a two-year high of US$174.93, adding roughly US$30 billion to the company's market capitalization as trading volume topped 15 times its 50-day average.

Merck rallied by 12 percent to reach an all-time high of US$153.13.

Broader sector sentiment climbed alongside the news, lifting the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index up to 5.2 percent to a record high.

Moderna and Merck plan to present detailed data at an upcoming medical meeting and have initiated discussions with regulatory agencies.

Moderna President Stephen Hoge said the treatment could reach the market as soon as next year under its existing breakthrough therapy designation.

Unlike traditional one-size-fits-all oncology treatments, the therapy creates intismeran–the mRNA cancer vaccine–by surgically removing a piece of a patient's tumor and sequencing its DNA to identify unique cellular mutations.

Using mRNA technology, the bespoke vaccine instructs the patient's cells to reproduce copies of those specific mutations, training the immune system to recognize and attack any remaining cancer cells displaying those markers when paired with Keytruda.

"This is the first time that we've seen really clinically significant, statistically significant improvements over checkpoints like Keytruda in this population, and it is the first time we've done that with an individualized treatment," Hoge said.

The drugmakers are currently running clinical trials testing similar personalized mRNA regimens against lung, kidney, bladder, breast, and pancreatic cancers.

As of 10:50 a.m. EST shares of Moderna were priced at US$141.69 and Merck was trading for US$150.51.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.