Moderna Shares Are Surging After Merck Exercised Personalized Cancer Vaccine Pact

Moderna Inc MRNA said Merck & Co Inc MRK had exercised an option to jointly develop and potentially sell personalized mRNA-based cancer vaccine.
Personalized cancer vaccines prime the immune system so patients can generate a tailored antitumor response to their tumor mutation signature to treat their cancer.
mRNA-4157/V940 is designed to stimulate an immune response by generating T-cell responses based on the mutational signature of a patient's tumor.
Also Read: Moderna Says No To China's Request To Handover COVID-19 Vaccine Technology.
In a Phase 2 trial, the vaccine mRNA-4157 is being tested along with Merck's blockbuster cancer immunotherapy Keytruda as adjuvant treatment for patients with high-risk melanoma conducted by Moderna.
Data on the vaccine is expected in the fourth quarter of this year.
Under the agreement, initially established in 2016 and amended in 2018, Merck will pay Moderna $250 million to exercise its option for personalized cancer vaccines. Merck and Moderna will share costs and profits equally under this worldwide collaboration.
Price Action: MRNA shares are up 12.30% at $135.52 during the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.