Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) rebounded to a new three-year high on Monday, as investors began positioning their portfolios ahead of two upcoming health conferences, one of which will be held on Wednesday, September 23.
In intra-day trading, the stock jumped to a new record high of $176.86 before paring gains to hover just above the $174 level as of writing.
For illustration purposes only. Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels
In a notice on its website, Moderna Inc. said that it will participate in the Bernstein Insights: Healthcare Leaders and Disruptors 3rd Annual Healthcare Forum on Wednesday, where it is expected to report further data from the Phase 3 INTerparth-001 trial for its melanoma treatment candidate, intismeran autogene, in combination with Merck’s Keytruda.
The same data will also be presented at the upcoming European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2026 in Madrid, Spain, from October 23 to 27, 2026.
Strong Phase 3 Results
It can be recalled that Moderna and Merck partnered for the development of a therapy to treat the most common type of skin cancer through the combination of intismeran autogene with Keytruda.
The third phase of the clinical trial achieved the primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and the key secondary target of distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS).
It marked the first positive readout from a phase 3 clinical trial for a combination of individualized neoantigen therapy (INT) and mRNA-based cancer therapy, as well as the first phase 3 study to demonstrate a clinically meaningful improvement over Keytruda alone.
Huge Addressable Market
For investors, the readout was a significant milestone for its huge addressable market and revenue growth potential.
According to Moderna Inc., the US alone is expected to register 112,000 new cases of melanoma by the end of the year, with 8,500 deaths resulting from the disease.
Melanoma is responsible for a large majority of skin cancer deaths. In 2022 alone, some 330,000 cases were diagnosed globally, making it one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed.
Higher Hedge Fund Conviction
Institutional conviction appeared to have strengthened for Moderna Inc. in the second quarter of the year despite some hedge funds exiting the company during the period.
Data from Insider Monkey showed that during the quarter, 49 hedge funds held positions in the stock, lower than the 52 in the first quarter of the year.
However, their combined holdings increased by 10 percent to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion quarter-on-quarter, signaling that existing investors are increasing their exposure amid optimism about its long-term growth trajectory.
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