• Moderna achieves breakthrough against cancer with vaccine
  • Intismeran clears advanced trial
  • Moderna shares jump 60%

Moderna’s personalized mRNA vaccine, combined with Merck’s Keytruda, successfully cleared a late-stage clinical trial against skin cancer.

Preliminary results show that Intismeran met the primary goal of reducing cancer recurrence, according to CNN.

Moderna Melanoma Vaccine Meets Trial Goals

It also met its secondary goal of preventing the disease from spreading to other parts of the body.

  • Why it matters: The breakthrough strengthens Moderna’s strategy to diversify beyond its COVID-19 vaccine.

The announcement also had an immediate impact on investors, sending Moderna shares sharply higher before the market opened.

Intismeran Combines a Personalized Vaccine With Keytruda

Moderna Cancer Vaccine Clears Advanced Trial
Moderna Cancer Vaccine Clears Advanced Trial – Photo EFE/ Eliseo Trigo

The treatment combines Keytruda, Merck’s immunotherapy drug, with a personalized mRNA vaccine developed by Moderna.

The Moderna melanoma vaccine is developed based on an analysis of mutations found in each patient’s tumors.

The trial included 1,137 high-risk patients with stage IIB-IV melanoma.

The patients’ tumors had been surgically removed before they participated in the study.

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Participants were randomly assigned to two groups to compare treatment outcomes.

One group received up to nine doses of Keytruda along with Moderna’s personalized vaccine.

The other group received Keytruda alone for approximately one year.

Moderna and Merck said no new safety signals have been detected in the trial so far.

The study is still ongoing, and the companies will present the full results at an upcoming medical meeting.

They will also share the data with regulatory agencies.

Previous Results Showed a Reduction in Risk

The new results come after Moderna and Merck presented data from a mid-stage trial in January.

That study showed a 49% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death after five years.

Now, the late-stage trial represents another step toward evaluating the potential of the personalized treatment against melanoma.

Melanoma is considered the deadliest type of skin cancer.

In 2023, more than 1.5 million people in the United States were living with melanoma, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The breakthrough is also part of Moderna’s efforts to expand its product portfolio.

The company recently added an FDA-approved influenza vaccine.

It also has experimental vaccines in development targeting diseases such as norovirus and Lyme disease.

Moderna Shares Soar After Melanoma Vaccine Announcement

The results triggered an immediate reaction in premarket trading.

Moderna shares surged about 60%, trading at $103.60.

Merck shares, meanwhile, rose 7.5% before the market opened.

Data from the Moderna melanoma vaccine had been identified by analysts as a potentially significant catalyst for the company.

The results could also help strengthen investor confidence in Moderna’s diversification strategy.

Last month, Barclays analysts estimated that the therapy could generate approximately $3 billion from melanoma treatment by 2035.

For now, Moderna and Merck will continue the study before presenting their results to the medical community and regulatory agencies.