Moderna’s stock tumbled 25.2% to $130.47 in midday trading on Thursday, erasing a significant portion of the prior session’s gains after the company and Merck announced positive but unspecific results from a late-stage cancer vaccine trial.
The Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial, involving over 1,100 high-risk melanoma patients, met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival and a key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival. The companies did not disclose efficacy metrics such as hazard ratios, leaving investors to assess the data’s market impact without concrete benchmarks.
The selloff accelerated pre-market, where shares fell more than 14% ahead of the open. Moderna closed at $174.38 on Wednesday, a level that remains above all revised analyst price targets issued since the trial results were released. UBS raised its target to $150, Goldman Sachs to $120, Morgan Stanley to $89, and Bank of America upgraded the stock to Neutral with a $170 target—none of which surpassed the prior session’s closing price.
The broader market also retreated, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq trading lower. Treasury yields reversed Wednesday’s decline following the U.S. Treasury’s announcement to expand buybacks of long-dated debt, adding pressure to rate-sensitive sectors. The biotech sector’s pullback was largely concentrated in Moderna, as peers showed little movement.
Moderna’s 52-week low stands at $22.28, though the stock had surged in recent sessions, reflecting heightened investor interest in mRNA-based therapies beyond vaccines.
