Subject: Moderna Makes Additional Cancer Therapy Investment
Moderna made their name and fortune with their highly successful Covid vaccine, and the bulk of their revenues in coming years will come from that product and will first be bolstered by other respiratory disease vaccines like RSV and Flu. However, they also have made exciting progress toward bringing a cancer vaccine to market. Their collaboration with Merck to bolster Merck's Keytruda melanoma chemotherapy with an individualized cancer vaccine has shown good results vs. a very tough cancer, and it has advanced rapidly toward commercialization: now in Stage 3 trials. Keytruda is used for multiple other cancers as well, and the two companies plan to move rapidly forward to bring Moderna's vaccine to bear on them as well, with lung cancer the next target.

https://www.reuters.com/busine...
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/...

Today Moderna announced an investment and collaboration with another biotech pharmaceutical company, Immatics, to further pursue anti-cancer solutions. Moderna is paying Immatics $120 million up front and will pay for ongoing R&D efforts, with potential for royalties

https://finance.yahoo.com/news...

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Moderna, Inc. and Immatics N.V., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company active in the discovery and development of T cell-redirecting cancer immunotherapies, today announced a strategic research and development collaboration to pioneer novel and transformative therapies for cancer patients with high unmet medical need. This broad multi-platform collaboration will leverage the deep scientific expertise and core operational capabilities of both companies, combining Immatics' TCR platform with Moderna's cutting-edge mRNA technology, and span various therapeutic modalities including bispecifics, cell therapy and cancer vaccines.
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Under the terms of the agreement, Immatics will receive an upfront payment of $120 million. Immatics will also receive research funding and is eligible to receive development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments that could exceed $1.7 billion. Immatics is also eligible to receive tiered royalties on global net sales of TCR products and certain vaccine products that are commercialized under the agreement. Under the agreement, Immatics has an option to enter into a global profit and loss share arrangement for the most advanced TCR.
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As Moderna's revenue and profits have fallen off a cliff with the threat of the Covid pandemic receding, and they begin burning into the money pile the amassed from the tens of billions they amassed from the Covid vaccine, the stock has understandably dropped. I've maintained my position, established in 2022 with an average cost per share of $134. Current price is about $105. It's a somewhat speculative stock, but I sure like their prospects. Considering buying some more ...