Moderna stock hits 4-year high on planned national cancer vaccine effort

Moderna ( MRNA ) stock popped 14% on Friday, reaching its highest level since January 2022, after the New York Times reported new details about an effort to accelerate cancer vaccine development. Investors saw the mRNA biotech company, in particular, as a beneficiary.

Biotech stocks, including Pfizer ( PFE ), BioNTech ( BNTX ), and Merck ( MRK ), rallied on the news. Novavax ( NVAX ) shares surged 15%.

According to the New York Times, the new initiative is a public-private partnership — similar to the effort that produced COVID-19 vaccines — that involves the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH's nonprofit arm, researchers, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, advocacy groups, other nonprofits, and patients.

Stacey Adam, a senior clinical officer at the NIH's foundation, told the New York Times that she expects the program to launch in December. In 2024, the UK launched a similar program, called the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad .

Cancer vaccines are seen as the next frontier in cancer treatment. But they represent an emerging bet.

Unlike other vaccines, such as the COVID-19 vaccine, which aim to prevent infection, cancer vaccines are designed to target cancer cells in patients who already have the disease.

Moderna is viewed as a leader in the mRNA cancer treatment space. The stock soared in August on positive results for a melanoma treatment , developed with Merck, that showed a positive outcome in a late-stage trial.