On August 19, Moderna, Inc. rose 3.63% in after-hours trading, trading at $179.14/share, with Turnover of $264 million, extending gains after surging approximately 176% during the regular session.

The rally was driven by Moderna and Merck's joint announcement that their personalized mRNA cancer vaccine intismeran autogene, in combination with Keytruda, achieved positive results in the pivotal Phase III Interpath-001 trial. The study met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival and a key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival in patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma, demonstrating statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements versus Keytruda alone. This marks the first Phase III trial success for mRNA technology in oncology.

Following the data release, multiple analysts issued upgrades and raised price targets. Piper Sandler raised its target to $167 from $77, BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform with a target of $170, Goldman Sachs raised its target to $120, and William Blair upgraded to Outperform. According to Ortex data, short sellers faced approximately $4.8 billion in mark-to-market losses as shares surged to $159 during the session. The companies plan to engage with regulators regarding potential regulatory submissions for the combination therapy.

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