Moderna is up 89% in pre-market trading after the pharmaceutical group published promising Phase 3 results for an mRNA vaccine against certain forms of cancer. When added to other forms of treatment, the vaccine appears to have slowed the recurrence of treated melanoma and its spread to other parts of the body. The result is significant because it was recorded in the final phase of clinical trials. For the groups involved, this represents a potentially enormous step forward in cancer treatment.

This concerns the category of neoantigens, which Moderna believes could have enormous potential in treating various forms of cancer. According to The Wall Street Journal, the result emerged from randomized trials and would therefore be particularly significant.

Markets celebrate

This is excellent news not only for humanity—as it would represent a huge step forward in cancer treatment—but also for investors, who can enjoy an almost 90% rise in the stock, at least in pre-market trading.

After the reopening, markets will decide whether this was a flash in the pan or a sustainable boom, but there is still jubilation both for the hopes it raises and for the pockets of those who invested.

Moderna has not yet released detailed data from the experiment, however, and the WSJ notes that it will be necessary to await further analysis before judging the market response as sustainable or unsustainable.

Merck shares are also performing well, though to a lesser extent, as the company is involved in producing the vaccine.

The vaccine is personalized, meaning that it is developed according to the patient’s specific needs.

Stock markets remain buoyant

U.S. stock markets are nevertheless buoyant ahead of the opening, thanks to news of the U.S. Treasury entering the market with a buyback of long-term debt. The focus is on ten-year bonds as well as those with maturities of up to 30 years.

The move brings some relief to markets that had been caught in a kind of vicious cycle of fears, driven in particular by the surging yields on U.S. debt—and not only that.

New York is therefore set for a lively opening—but it will also be searching for a balance, both in Moderna shares and across the rest of the stock markets, boosted by a relatively unusual intervention from the U.S. Treasury, which could also fuel concerns about a situation that required, precisely, an intervention.