Moderna drops 25% after leaked melanoma vaccine data miss lofty hopes
What's new: Full phase 3 results showed Moderna and Merck cut recurrence or death by 42% versus Keytruda alone.
Moderna shares fell as much as 25% Thursday after partial data leaked from a closely watched phase 3 trial of its personalized cancer vaccine with Merck, even though the full results later looked positive. In melanoma patients, the vaccine intismeran autogene plus Merck’s Keytruda cut the risk of recurrence or death by 42% compared with Keytruda alone, and reduced the risk of distant spread or death by 38%. About 82% of patients who got the combination were alive without their melanoma returning at two years, versus 70% for Keytruda alone. The companies plan to present the data at the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting this weekend.