The revolutionary mRNA technology that made Moderna a corporate superstar during the Covid-19 pandemic has turbocharged the vaccine maker again, this time thanks to the promise it holds in treating cancer. The biotechnology group's share price closed 177 per cent higher after it reported successful trial results for an experimental cancer therapy.

"I don't know if I've seen anything like this," Karen Andersen, a healthcare analyst at Morningstar, told the FT. The trial results were "a hugely important confirmation for them in terms of the potential of their oncology pipeline".

The resurgence marks a stark turnaround for Moderna, which was under siege from US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. The vaccine sceptic cancelled funding for mRNA vaccines being developed to counter respiratory viruses. Underpinning this turnaround are several jabs the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based group is developing with the aim of treating a variety of cancers.

If approved, Moderna's mRNA-based jabs would be the first cancer treatments using that technology on the market. The group now has 15 cancer treatments in various stages of testing. "For many years, the idea of creating an mRNA treatment designed specifically for an individual patient's cancer was aspirational," Moderna chief executive Stéphane Bancel said. "We are now helping turn that vision into a reality."