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Frozen copy retrieved 2026-08-20T19:10:00Z for audit 2026-08-20T21-09-12Z. Original URL:
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/moderna-merck-tout-success-melanoma-125801737.html. The Stochastic Parrot does not host or redistribute; this snapshot exists solely so that quoted spans remain verifiable if the original page changes. Character offsets below index into this plain text; highlighted spans are the quotes cited in the audit.
Moderna and Merck Tout Success in Melanoma Vaccine Trial
Bloomberg (wire; captured via Yahoo Finance Australia syndication — bloomberg.com blocks direct fetch) ·
back to the auditByline: Robert Langreth and Madison Muller, Bloomberg (published via Yahoo Finance, 19 August 2026).
VERBATIM:
- Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel called the result "an extraordinary milestone for mRNA science."
- Merck's Jane Healy called therapeutic vaccines "something of a holy grail in cancer."
NOT VERBATIM (fetch returned processed summary only; for span-locating, do NOT quote): Personalized mRNA vaccine given with Keytruda met its main goal in a large late-stage trial — reducing melanoma recurrences more than Keytruda alone — and also met a key secondary goal of slowing the cancer's spread to new areas of the body. Stock: Moderna shares "more than doubled" in pre-market trading; Merck rose as much as 9.5%; Moderna's stock had already climbed 113% year-to-date through Tuesday's close. Described as the first positive final-stage trial for any mRNA-based cancer therapy. DATA WITHHELD (per summary): companies did not disclose how much the shot improved recurrence-free survival; the trial continues to assess whether patients live longer overall (overall survival not reported). Roughly 112,000 Americans diagnosed and about 8,500 die from it annually. Bancel said product could be approved as soon as 2027. "intismeran autogene" customized to each patient's tumor mutations; algorithm picks up to 34 mutations. Mid-stage trial earlier this year: patients receiving shot plus Keytruda were 49% less likely to die or have their cancer return after five years vs. Keytruda alone. No mention of Trump-administration pushback on mRNA.