By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) are up about 14% in pre-market Wednesday trading after Merck (NYSE:MRK) exercised its option to jointly develop and commercialize a personalized cancer vaccine.
The deal for the vaccine, known as mRNA-4157/V940, was signed in 6 years ago and then amended two years later. Merck will pay Moderna $250 million in Q3 after it exercised its option to jointly develop and commercialize personalized cancer vaccine.
The two companies agreed back then to work together on the development and commercialization of the vaccine, as well as share costs and profits equally.
"We have been collaborating with Merck on PCVs since 2016, and together we have made significant progress in advancing mRNA-4157 as an investigational personalized cancer treatment used in combination with KEYTRUDA," said Stephen Hoge, M.D., President of Moderna.
The two companies also said they’re on track to report Phase 2 trial data for mRNA-4157/V940 in combination with Keytruda for high-risk melanoma patients in the fourth quarter of this year.