Daily newsletter · Tue 6 Oct 2026
Moderna is up almost 600% this year on cancer data nobody has seen in full
Moderna rose 6.95% to US$203.21 on Monday. Through Friday's close the shares were up 594% for the year.
The bet is on a cancer vaccine. Intismeran is a personalised vaccine, developed with Merck and given alongside Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda. In August the two said a Phase 3 melanoma trial had met its main goal.
Patients on the combination went longer without the cancer returning than patients on Keytruda alone. Nobody outside the companies has seen by how much.
The full results arrive at the ESMO cancer congress in Madrid on Saturday 24 October, in the Presidential Symposium, the meeting's top slot. Sydney's Georgina Long presents them at 3.30am Sunday in Auckland and 1.30am in Sydney.
There is a second buyer before then. Moderna joins the Nasdaq-100 on Friday 9 October, replacing Warner Bros. Discovery, which is being absorbed by Paramount Skydance. Funds that track the index have to buy the shares whatever the data says.
the share price already assumes a big benefit. On 24 October we'll see how wide the gap between the two groups of patients really is, and a narrow one would leave a lot of this year's gain looking early.
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All stories →- Friday 23 October Moderna fell 17.57% after its cancer vaccine results leaked two days early
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