Illumina and PacBio shares jump on melanoma mRNA vaccine trial results
After the Phase III personalized mRNA therapy news, Illumina and PacBio shares rose 16% and 18% on August 23, as reported by GEN. The increase reflects expectations that tumor DNA sequencing will be needed for each patient receiving custom cancer vaccines.
On August 19, Merck and Moderna announced results from the Phase III INTerpath-001 trial involving 1,137 melanoma patients who had undergone complete tumor resection. In the combination arm, the personalized mRNA vaccine intismeran was added to pembrolizumab, improving both recurrence‑free and distant‑metastasis‑free survival versus pembrolizumab alone.
To make intismeran, a sequencer reads the tumor DNA and creates a mutation map from which up to 34 neoantigens are selected; these are encoded in mRNA that instructs cells to produce the fragments for immune detection. After the announcement, Moderna’s shares surged 177% in a single day.
By Friday’s close, Illumina was up 16% and PacBio 18%, with GEN linking the gains to the anticipated repeat sequencing step in the INTerpath program, which includes nine Phase II and III trials across several cancer types.
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GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News
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Moderna and Merck & Co. saw their stocks surge after announcing what they said were the first-ever positive Phase III results for their mRNA-based cancer vaccine, the individualized neoantigen therapy (INT) intismeran autogene. Shares of several sequencing…
