Moderna与Merck个性化癌症疫苗三期黑色素瘤试验达标，但股价已在两日前完成剧烈重定价

Wall Street posts worst week in over a month amid bond sell-off, rising oil prices
Investing.com -- Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) said their experimental personalised cancer vaccine met its primary and secondary goals in a melanoma trial, providing a major boost to Moderna after years of falling Covid-19 vaccine sales, layoffs and heavy cash burn, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Moderna shares nearly tripled after the results were announced Wednesday, adding about $44 billion to the biotech company’s market value. The stock had previously fallen more than 90% from its pandemic-era peak and was among the most heavily shorted companies in the S&P 500 earlier this year.
The trial showed that the vaccine met its main goal of preventing melanoma from returning and a secondary goal of stopping the cancer from spreading elsewhere in the body. Moderna and Merck plan to present detailed results at a medical conference later this year and are targeting potential U.S. approval next year.
The companies have not yet disclosed how effective the treatment was or what proportion of patients benefited. Questions also remain about the durability of its effects and the cost of producing a vaccine customised for each patient.
The treatment uses genetic sequencing to identify mutations unique to a patient’s tumour. Algorithms select as many as 34 targets, which are encoded into an mRNA strand designed to train the immune system to attack cancer cells. It is administered alongside Merck’s Keytruda immunotherapy.
Moderna began studying mRNA cancer vaccines more than a decade ago and partnered with Merck in 2016. Merck initially committed $200 million to research the combination before agreeing in 2022 to jointly develop the treatment and split any profits.
Earlier trial results showed that the vaccine and Keytruda reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 44% compared with Keytruda alone.
The cancer programme has become central to Moderna’s effort to build a sustainable business beyond Covid vaccines. Company sales fell by nearly two-thirds in 2023, prompting job cuts and the cancellation of several research programmes.
Moderna and Merck are also testing the vaccine platform in lung, kidney and pancreatic cancers. Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel has said an approved treatment would cost less than CAR-T therapies, which can reach $500,000 per patient, though no specific price has been disclosed.