What to know

• Moderna's stock surged 176% on Wednesday after announcing a cancer vaccine breakthrough, then crashed 25% on Thursday as investors took profits—wiping out $18 billion in market value.
• The vaccine combines Moderna's mRNA technology with Merck's Keytruda immunotherapy and showed success reducing melanoma recurrence and extending patient survival.
• Wall Street analysts, including Bank of America, still view the results as transformational despite the stock pullback, though questions remain about how much better the combined drug is than Keytruda alone.
• The volatility dramatically affected Moderna's co-founders' net worth: CEO Stéphane Bancel gained $2.5 billion Wednesday but lost $1.3 billion Thursday.

“still don't know how much better Moderna's combined drug is than Keytruda alone, and that more testing would likely be necessary”

Alec Stranahan, Bank of America analyst · Forbes

Moderna Biotech companyMerck Pharmaceutical partnerAlec Stranahan Bank of America analystStéphane Bancel Moderna CEO