Moderna’s stock experienced a significant surge, increasing by over 120% in morning trading on Wednesday. This rise followed the announcement that the company’s experimental personalized cancer vaccine, developed in collaboration with Merck, achieved positive outcomes in its inaugural Phase 3 trial. The trial results mark a pivotal moment in the development of personalized cancer therapies.
The Phase 3 trial involved more than 1,100 patients. The early Phase 3 results suggest that the personalized vaccine combined with Keytruda could become a new treatment option for some melanoma patients. Melanoma accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers, but it causes the large majority of deaths from skin cancer, according to the report. 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 combination reduced the risk of melanoma spreading to distant parts of the body, according to the companies. Healy said that even patients who have the same type of cancer can have different sets of mutations in their tumours. 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.
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 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. Melanoma is a small part of all skin cancers but causes many deaths. 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. That is why Wednesday’s results are so important for Moderna.
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.
