Companies plan to present full study data at upcoming medical meeting
Moderna’s shares more than doubled Wednesday, rising more than 120% to $140.12 a share, after the company and partner Merck announced initial results from a study of an experimental cancer treatment that would be the first of its kind if approved by regulators. Merck shares rose about 11% on the news.
The treatment combines intismeran, Moderna’s mRNA-based cancer vaccine, with Keytruda, the immunotherapy drug made by Merck. The vaccine is designed to be individually tailored to a patient’s tumor, based on the unique mutations within that person’s cancer cells, and the companies are developing it to be used in combination with Keytruda.
The study compared giving intismeran plus Keytruda to melanoma patients against giving Keytruda alone. The companies said the patients who received the combination lived longer without cancer returning or metastasizing compared to patients who got Keytruda alone.
The partners did not disclose how long patients remained cancer-free or how long they lived overall. The companies said they plan to present the full study data at an upcoming international medical meeting.