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Moderna shares surge as melanoma vaccine with Merck succeeds in large trial
Reuters (wire, shorter variant; captured via Investing.com syndication) ·
back to the auditByline: Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters — CHICAGO, Aug 19. VERBATIM:
- Lead: "CHICAGO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Moderna's mRNA vaccine combined with Merck's immunotherapy Keytruda succeeded in a late-stage trial for skin cancer, the companies said on Wednesday, sending shares of the vaccine maker up 60% in premarket trading."
- "The study is ongoing, but interim results found the treatment, Intismeran, met both its primary target of reducing cancer recurrence and its secondary goal of keeping cancers from spreading to other parts of the body."
- "no new safety signals have emerged in the trial"
- "reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49% after five years" (January mid-stage results)
- Moderna trading at $103.60; Merck up 7.5% before the bell (per fetch summary).
NOT VERBATIM (summary only, do NOT quote): Barclays analysts expect the therapy could generate about $3 billion for treating melanoma by 2035; Moderna has an FDA-approved flu vaccine and is working on experimental shots for norovirus and Lyme disease. NOTE: this shorter piece, per the fetch, does NOT mention overall-survival data status, a hazard ratio, executive quotes, or Trump-administration pushback.