Moderna Cancer Vaccine Boosts Stock Price to Fresh High

Moderna's stock price has surged to a fresh 52-week high of $195.71, following a two-month rally that began in mid-August. The company announced late-stage trial results for its cancer vaccine, intismeran, which it developed in partnership with Merck.

The CEO, Stéphane Bancel, dismissed the label 'COVID-19 vaccine company' at a recent conference, emphasizing Moderna's broader scope and potential beyond COVID vaccines. The company has five approved vaccines, including the first U.S. mRNA flu shot for adults 50 and older.

The rally was kickstarted by data from the INTerpath-001 trial, which met both main goals in keeping cancer from coming back and spreading far from the original site when combined with Merck's Keytruda. The vaccine also showed similar benefits in tumors with many mutations and those with few, supporting further testing.

Moderna is studying stage I lung cancer and early bladder cancer, with screening stopped on the lead post-surgery lung trial due later this year. Three intismeran abstracts were accepted at a conference in October, including the INTerpath-001 late-stage melanoma readout.