Moderna pins hopes on mRNA ‘game-changer’ for cancer vaccines

{"text":[[{"start":7.62,"text":"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."}],[{"start":19.78,"text":"The biotechnology group’s share price closed 177 per cent higher on Wednesday after it reported successful trial results for an experimental cancer therapy."}],[{"start":29.56,"text":"The share price reaction — Moderna is now the second best-performing stock in the S&P 500 index this year, behind memory group Sandisk — stunned Wall Street as it is rare for a large biotech group to move so dramatically."}],[{"start":42.88,"text":"“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”."}],[{"start":56.36,"text":"The resurgence marks a stark turnaround for Moderna: for much of the past year its shares were the most shorted in the S&P 500 and the company 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 in a blow to Moderna, Pfizer and other companies."}],[{"start":77.64,"text":"Underpinning this turnaround are several jabs the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based group is developing with the aim of treating a variety of cancers, each based on messenger RNA — the genetic material that behaves like a courier in the body."}],[{"start":91,"text":"The mRNA technology, which powered Moderna’s blockbuster Covid vaccines, can instruct immune cells to recognise proteins known as neoantigens that are particular to mutations in an individual’s cancer."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":103.04,"text":"The jabs are at different stages of development, with the treatment for melanoma — among the top five deadliest cancers for both men and women — most advanced. Analysts are expecting the skin cancer shot to win regulatory approval next year."}],[{"start":115.74,"text":"Moderna published its melanoma results with Merck, which makes cancer-killing treatment Keytruda, one of the world’s best-selling drugs. Merck’s shares jumped 12.6 per cent to hit an all-time high as trading closed on Wednesday."}],[{"start":128.4,"text":"Each jab would be tailor-made to target each patient’s tumour, with a vaccine directing a patient’s immune system to recognise certain neoantigens and attack future cancer cells that contain them. The goal is to prevent relapses in the disease."}],[{"start":143.04,"text":"“For many years, the idea of creating an mRNA treatment designed specifically for an individual patient’s cancer was aspirational,” Moderna’s chief executive Stéphane Bancel said on Wednesday. “We are now helping turn that vision into a reality.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":158.97,"text":"If approved, Moderna’s mRNA-based jabs would be the first cancer treatments using that technology on the market. However, German group BioNTech is also seeking to expand its expertise in mRNA-based cancer treatments, including personalised tumour vaccines. BioNTech’s shares closed 22 per cent higher on Wednesday."}],[{"start":179.24,"text":"Although vaccine makers were collectively hit by Kennedy’s attacks, Moderna was particularly exposed as it currently sells only Covid vaccines. Once the pandemic risks ebbed and fewer people lined up for Covid jabs, Moderna’s revenues faded as well. In 2025, the group generated $1.9bn in revenue, down from $3.2bn and $6.8bn in 2024 and 2023 respectively."}],[{"start":204.602,"text":"UK-based asset manager Baillie Gifford slashed its Moderna holding from 10 per cent at the end of 2024 to 5 per cent, according to the most recent disclosures, saying it was “frustrated” with the company’s direction."}],[{"start":219,"text":"Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the US and Europe after heart disease. Global spending by governments and patients on cancer drugs increased 75 per cent to $252bn between 2020 and 2024, according to research from the American Society of Clinical Oncology published in June. This is expected to increase to $441bn by 2029."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":243,"text":"Cancer vaccines have been part of Moderna’s drug development since it went public in 2018 but oncology was quickly overshadowed once the world was engulfed by the pandemic in early 2020."}],[{"start":253.306,"text":"The group now has 15 cancer treatments in various stages of testing, compared with 14 targeting respiratory diseases or other conditions."}],[{"start":261.88,"text":"Wednesday’s melanoma results were “a game-changer” with the potential to “usher in a new era” in cancer treatment, said Elias Sayour, a paediatric oncologist at the University of Florida."}],[{"start":274.16,"text":"Having to custom-make a vaccine for each new patient was likely to be expensive in the early years of production, but the costs would probably drop as the technology improved, he said."}],[{"start":285.4,"text":"Another looming uncertainty for Moderna is the degree of political hostility it may have to overcome when bringing products to market. Amid increasing scepticism about vaccines, mRNA-based jabs are a lightning rod for some US Republican lawmakers who believe the vaccines alter DNA."}],[{"start":302.906,"text":"Moderna’s melanoma results were likely to “amplify” political divisions over mRNA, said Dannell Boatman, a professor at West Virginia University who has studied online discourse about mRNA."}],[{"start":315.48,"text":"“We’ve seen a lot of mistrust and distrust for vaccines in general,” she said on Wednesday. “We’ve had this burst of misinformation since the pandemic surrounding mRNA technology, and that is not going away.”"}],[{"start":328.6,"text":"Eight Republican states this year introduced legislation to limit or prohibit mRNA, according to a June report from the American Lung Association, which lobbied against the moves. None of the bills advanced."}],[{"start":341.1,"text":"When Kennedy cancelled $500mn of federal funding for mRNA research a year ago, he said the government was “moving beyond” its limitations and “investing in better solutions”."}],[{"start":352.23,"text":"Moderna’s first flu shot was approved by the Food and Drug Administration this month. But it was the mRNA technology behind it that drove a spat between Moderna and the Trump administration earlier this year, in a case that shocked the sector."}],[{"start":367.4,"text":"The Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment on mRNA technology."}],[{"start":372.08,"text":"The political pressures have not derailed Moderna’s oncology efforts. The company has defended its progress and has declined to fire back at its opponents."}],[{"start":380.4,"text":"“It is sad to see some misinformation about the technology,” Bancel told the FT before Wednesday’s results. “The clinical data speak for themselves.”"}],[{"start":391.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1787214288_1059.mp3"}