Moderna and Merck shares soar on mRNA cancer vaccine
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Add Axios on Google Cancer vaccine research underway in a Moderna lab in 2024. Photo: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Moderna and Merck shares soared on Wednesday after the companies said a personalized mRNA treatment hit its target of preventing skin cancer from recurring or spreading in a late-stage clinical trial.
Why it matters: The results come at a pivotal moment for Moderna and mRNA research, after Trump administration health officials cut federal funding for new vaccines and asserted the technology poses more risks than rewards.
The big picture: The results could lead to a remarkable turnaround for Moderna, whose market value plummeted more than 90% after demand for its COVID vaccine declined post-pandemic. The company this month also won Food and Drug Administration approval for a new mRNA seasonal flu vaccine.
Driving the news: The experimental therapy, called intismeran, was tested in combination with Merck's cancer drug Keytruda in more than 1,100 patients with high-risk melanoma that had been surgically removed.
"We may be entering an era where a patient's individual tumor biology can be used to design a therapy specifically for them," William Soliman, founder and CEO of the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs, said in an email.
The latest: The full results of the trial will be released at an upcoming medical meeting.
Between the lines: The safety profile of the combination treatment was consistent with earlier studies and showed no new risks.
What we're watching: Whether the potential success of an mRNA-based cancer therapy could help lift the bigger cloud hanging over the technology.
The story has been corrected to reflect that intismeran was jointly developed by Merck and Moderna (not just Moderna).
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