Shares in vaccine maker Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) more than doubled overnight to $174 on positive trial data for one of its cancer drugs. The treatment, developed jointly with Merck (NYSE:MRK), met its endpoints in Phase 3 trials under the INTerpath clinical development programme.
Shares more than double on drug’s prospects
Investors piled into Moderna shares, sending them up over $111 or 177% from $62.96 to $174.38 in a single day. The move returned the stock to the levels it traded at in early 2024 before the de-rating of the last two years.
Central to the success of the trial was the combination of Moderna’s Intismeran autogene in conjunction with Merck’s Keytruda. Together, the two drugs showed ‘statistically significant and clinically meanigful improvements’ compared with Keytruda alone.
Due to the dual treatments, patients with melanoma were less likely to have a recurrence of the disease after surgery. Also, DMFS or distant metastasis-free survival rates improved when the drugs were used together.
Boost for Baillie Gifford funds
The results are ‘a landmark moment’, said Professor Georgina Long, the study’s principal investigator and medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia. ‘Intismeran in combination with pembrolizumab has the potential to establish a new treatment paradigm in the adjuvant melanoma setting, helping patients remain cancer-free for longer.’
The trial results and the subsequent share price spike are also positive news for fund management firm Baillie Gifford. Investment trusts Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT) and Baillie Gifford US Growth (LON:BGUS) both hold Moderna shares.
For Scottish Mortgage managers Lawrence Burns and Tom Slater, Moderna was a top 10 holding at 1.8% of the portfolio. Meanwhile, for the managers of Baillie Gifford US Growth the stock represented 1% of the portfolio. For both trusts, those percentages will have risen significantly following the overnight leap in the share price.
We always rated Moderna and couldn’t get our heads round why it fell out of favour with investors. It is one of the world’s leading vaccine-makers and has been using AI for years to accelerate drug development.
These Phase 3 findings represent a genuinely pivotal moment in the field of cancer research. As Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel says, the idea of creating an mRNA treatment designed specifically for an individual cancer was always an aspiration. Now, the firm is turning it into a reality.
In total, there are nine Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials in the INTerpath clinical development programme across multiple types of cancer. Therefore, there is potential for more good news over the coming months.
