Merck & Co. Inc. opted to jointly develop and potentially sell a personalized mRNA vaccine with Moderna Inc. for a $250 million upfront payment on Wednesday, sending the vaccine maker’s shares up over 8 percent.
Moderna’s experimental vaccine is being tested in combination with Merck’s blockbuster cancer immunotherapy, Keytruda, in a mid-stage trial to treat patients with melanoma. Data on the vaccine, mRNA-4157, is expected in the fourth quarter of this year.
