Moderna's stock more than doubled after the company reported that an experimental cancer vaccine, developed with Merck, reduced the recurrence of melanoma in a clinical trial.

The treatment uses the same messenger RNA technology that Moderna deployed in its Covid-19 vaccine. Rather than preventing disease, it is designed to work alongside Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda to help the body's immune system recognize and attack cancer cells after a tumor has been removed. The vaccine is tailored to the genetic makeup of an individual patient's tumor.

Investors responded quickly. Moderna shares climbed sharply during the session, with several reports placing the gain at more than 150 percent.

The results came from a study that the companies described as showing the vaccine, used in combination with Keytruda, cut the risk that melanoma would return compared with Keytruda alone. Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that can spread and recur even after surgical removal, and reducing that recurrence has been a central goal of the research.

The collaboration between Moderna and Merck represents one effort to apply mRNA technology to cancer. The approach, sometimes called an individualized or personalized cancer vaccine, requires sequencing a patient's tumor and manufacturing a custom therapy — a process that differs from the mass production of a single vaccine formula.

The therapy still faces regulatory review before it could reach patients. The companies have said they intend to advance the program and are studying the technology in additional cancer types.

References

1. 1.News reports — Moderna stock more than doubled, with gains reported above 150 percent
2. 2.Company statements — trial showed reduced melanoma recurrence with the vaccine plus Keytruda
3. 3.Company statements — plans to advance the program and study additional cancer types