Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Merck exercised its option (under the 2016 Merck/Moderna collaboration) to jointly develop and commercialize Moderna's individualized neoantigen therapy mRNA-4157/V940 (now INN: intismeran autogene), paying Moderna a $250M option-exercise payment. Following the exercise the companies share future development costs and profits 50/50 worldwide; the $250M payment was confirmed in Moderna's Q3 2022 10-Q, so the option exercise is complete. The decision came weeks before the Phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 readout, which in December 2022 met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival in combination with KEYTRUDA in resected high-risk stage III/IV melanoma. The program subsequently advanced to pivotal Phase 3 (INTerpath-001 in adjuvant melanoma, NCT05933577, now fully enrolled; INTerpath NSCLC studies enrolling), with eight Phase 2/3 trials underway across melanoma, NSCLC, bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma. Five-year KEYNOTE-942 data (announced Jan 20 2026 and presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting) showed sustained RFS benefit (HR 0.510; 49% reduction in risk of recurrence or death) versus KEYTRUDA alone.