Moderna shares plunged more than 25% on Thursday while Merck fell over 3% after what appeared to be an early release of clinical trial results for the companies' experimental cancer vaccine. The results briefly appeared on medical news website Oncology Central around 12:30 p.m. ET before being taken down. The data had been scheduled for presentation at the ESMO Congress.
According to the report, combining Moderna and Merck's personalized mRNA cancer vaccine with Merck's blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda reduced the risk of melanoma returning or death by 42% compared with Keytruda alone. After two years, 82.2% of patients receiving the combination remained alive and cancer-free, compared with 70% of those receiving Keytruda alone. The Phase 3 trial involved 1,137 patients.
Merck confirmed the key data points and stated no new safety concerns were identified in the trial.
Source: Wall Street Journal US Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing