Moderna (MRNA) Soars 179% as Melanoma Therapy Candidate Rewrites Growth Story

Moderna (MRNA) Soars 179% as Melanoma Therapy Candidate Rewrites Growth Story

Angelica Ballesteros

Sun, August 23, 2026 at 9:23 AM GMT+3 3 min read

• MRNA +8.86%

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw its share price more than double week-on-week to hit a new record high after reporting stellar results from the clinical trial of its melanoma therapy candidate in partnership with Merck.

During the week, the stock climbed by as much as 179 percent to touch a record high of $176.66, before paring gains to end Friday's trading at $145.13, or 129 percent higher week-on-week.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels

Recurrence-Free Survival

The rally was primarily driven by the strong late-stage trial of Moderna Inc.'s (NASDAQ:MRNA) intismeran autogene—an mRNA-based individualized neoantigen therapy—in combination with Merck's Keytruda—an immunotherapy drug aimed at helping patients' immune system fight cancer cells.

According to the parties, the combined therapy met the primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and a key secondary target of distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS).

The updated data marked the first positive readout from a phase 3 clinical trial for an individualized neoantigen therapy (INT) and for an mRNA-based cancer therapy, as well as the first phase 3 study to demonstrate a clinically meaningful improvement over Keytruda alone.

At a pre-specified interim analysis, Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Merck found that the combined therapy demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in RFS and DMFS in patients with completely resected stage IIB, IIC, III, or IV cutaneous melanoma who had not undergone prior treatment with systemic therapy, versus Keytruda alone.

The therapy also showed generally positive safety profiles, with no new safety signals observed.

The study will continue in order to evaluate other key secondary endpoints, including overall survival.

Huge Addressable Market

The combined therapy already boasts a huge market potential, raising revenue growth prospects for both Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Merck if and when the therapy hits the commercialization stage.

By the end of the year, the US is expected to register 112,000 new cases of melanoma, with 8,500 deaths resulting from the disease.

Melanoma is responsible for a large majority of skin cancer deaths.

In 2022 alone, some 330,000 cases were diagnosed globally, making it one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed.

Hedge Funds Bullish

Data from Insider Monkey showed that hedge funds were bullish about Moderna Inc.'s (NASDAQ:MRNA) growth prospects even prior to the stellar results, as evident from the increase in institutional investors establishing positions and the jump in their committed capital.

During the period, 52 hedge funds held positions in the stock, up from 48 in the quarter previously.

More notably, their collective holdings increased by 49.6 percent to $1.4 billion from $937 million quarter-on-quarter.

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