Merck and Moderna established an agreement to work together in 2016, and the companies plan to share costs and profits in their collaboration.
— Shares of Merck and Moderna jumped Tuesday after the drugmakers said a potential skin cancer vaccine they are developing using the same technology behind COVID-19 preventive shots fared well in a small study.
The drugmakers said a combination of the vaccine and Merck’s immunotherapy Keytruda led to a statistically significant improvement in recurrence-free survival time in patients with phase three or four melanoma who had tumors removed in surgery.
That combination was compared with Keytruda alone in a mid-stage clinical trial of 157 patients.
