Moderna jumps 9% on planned cancer vaccine effort

Moderna shares surged 9% on Friday, October 9, 2026, after the New York Times reported new details about a planned initiative to accelerate cancer vaccine development. Investors viewed the mRNA biotechnology company as a prime beneficiary of the project. Shares of other pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, BioNTech, and Merck, also gained.

The upcoming initiative is structured as a public-private partnership, similar to the coordinated effort that produced COVID-19 vaccines. It brings together the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH nonprofit arm, academic researchers, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, advocacy groups, healthcare nonprofits, and patients.

Stacey Adam, a senior clinical officer at the NIH foundation, told the New York Times that she expects the program to launch in December. The effort follows a comparable project started in 2024 in the United Kingdom, known as the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.

Moderna is widely considered a leader in mRNA cancer treatments. Its stock previously soared in August after positive clinical results for a melanoma treatment developed in collaboration with Merck.