WASHINGTON: US drugmakers Merck and Moderna said Wednesday a personalized cancer treatment had shown success in reducing the recurrence of melanoma tumors in a late-stage trial hailed by experts as a “breakthrough.” The news sent shares in Moderna soaring 145 percent to $154 while Merck’s stock was up more than 12 percent to $152. The drug, called “intismeran autogene,” is based on the same messenger RNA technology behind Covid-19 vaccines.

Pharmaceutical companies Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Moderna announced on Wednesday that their individualized neoantigen therapy, intismeran…

At an interim data check, investigators of a key trial found the individualized mRNA treatment kept disease from returning and stopped its spread, sparking a surge in Moderna…