Armenian-American Noubar Afeyan’s Moderna soars after breakthrough cancer vaccine results

(Horizon Media / CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Moderna shares soared on Wednesday after the biotechnology company announced positive results from a pivotal late-stage trial of its experimental personalized cancer vaccine, marking a potentially significant breakthrough for mRNA technology beyond infectious diseases.

The treatment, known as intismeran autogene, is being developed jointly by Moderna and pharmaceutical giant Merck. It uses mRNA technology to create a vaccine tailored to the specific genetic mutations found in an individual patient’s tumour. The vaccine is administered alongside Merck’s cancer immunotherapy drug Keytruda.

According to the companies, the Phase 3 trial involving patients with high-risk melanoma showed that those receiving the combination treatment went significantly longer without their cancer returning or spreading compared with patients treated with Keytruda alone. Detailed trial data have yet to be released, and the companies have not yet disclosed results related to overall survival. Full findings are expected to be presented at an upcoming international medical conference.

The announcement triggered a dramatic rally in Moderna’s stock. Shares more than doubled during trading on August 19, with the company adding tens of billions of dollars in market value. Merck shares also climbed sharply, while other companies working with mRNA technology benefited from renewed investor optimism.

The results represent an important milestone for Moderna as it seeks to expand beyond the COVID-19 vaccine business that propelled the company to global prominence during the pandemic. The melanoma study is the first successful late-stage trial of a personalized mRNA cancer therapy and could open the door to wider applications of the technology in oncology. Moderna is also studying similar approaches against several other forms of cancer.

The development also carries particular significance for the Armenian community because of Armenian-American scientist and entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, Moderna’s co-founder and chairman. Afeyan, who also serves as founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, helped establish Moderna through Flagship’s venture-creation platform and has remained chairman as the company grew from an early-stage biotechnology venture into one of the world’s best-known mRNA companies.

Born into an Armenian family in Beirut, Afeyan immigrated with his family to Canada during the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. He later studied in Canada before earning a doctorate in biochemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and building a career founding and developing biotechnology companies. Through Flagship Pioneering, he has played a central role in launching numerous life-sciences ventures, with Moderna becoming its most internationally recognized success.

Moderna and Merck are expected to discuss the results with regulators as they move toward a possible approval process. If authorized, the treatment could become one of the first personalized mRNA-based cancer therapies to reach patients and would represent a major new chapter in the technology first brought into widespread public attention through COVID-19 vaccines.