"It was a déjà vu moment, in the sense that we had a similar moment some roughly six years ago, when the technology was directed in a very different place, which was a COVID-19 vaccine, and we had some pretty exciting data. It really did feel like that."
Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan on the breakthrough that led to its new melanoma vaccine.
What Noubar Afeyan said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of Moderna, spoke publicly for the first time after the company announced Phase 3 trial results for its melanoma vaccine. He said he learned of the results a few days before the announcement and compared the moment to the COVID-19 vaccine milestone six years earlier. Afeyan cited Phase 2 data followed for five years showing a 45-50% improvement in risk-free and metastasis-free survival over Keytruda, with combined impact reducing disease impact by north of 60-70%. The Phase 3 trial, in resected Stage 2B to 4 melanoma, met top-line and secondary results on interim analysis, though specific data were not released. He noted Moderna had worked on cancer immunotherapy for ten years, before COVID, and was now returning to both infectious disease and oncology. On affordability, he said Merck's experience with access would help make the drug broadly available, and multiple additional late-stage trials in other cancer types are expected to read out this year and next. He credited COVID-era immune system learnings and AI for advancing immunotherapy, and noted the team of over 5,000 people remains focused on inventing and taking medicines to market.
Key takeaways
Phase 2 data showed 45-50% improvement over Keytruda in risk-free and metastasis-free survival at five years.
Combining the vaccine with Keytruda reduced disease impact by north of 60-70%.
Phase 3 trial in resected Stage 2B to 4 melanoma met top-line and secondary results on interim analysis.
Moderna had been working on cancer immunotherapy for ten years, before COVID.
Numbers and commitments
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What it refers to
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45, 50%
improvement over Keytruda in risk-free and metastasis-free survival at five years
Good evening. A potential turning point in the fight against cancer. Medical experts say Moderna's arm and a vaccine could fundamentally reshape treatment. The company announced the results of its late-stage trial yesterday and said its vaccine reduced the risk of melanoma, both returning and spreading when combined with Merck's Keytruda. The Chief Medical Officer, the CMO at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, called it a monumental leap forward. Melanoma expert Ryan Sullivan said, indeed, it was a big deal for the field in general. Now, Moderna's shares today, they gave back some of Wednesday's extraordinary gains. They were 25% lower, although to be fair, there were certain short-sell reasons or there was a squeeze that took place in the market yesterday that did influence the way the shares were trading. But the shares have more than doubled in value since the trial results were released. Noubar Afeyan is the co-founder and chairman of the company Moderna. He has not yet spoken publicly. Sir, it's good to see you.
Well, Richard, thanks for having me again. A few days before the main announcement, a short period of time before when the company received the information from the trial oversight group, is when I learned. And I must say, it was a déjà vu moment in the sense that we had a similar moment, some roughly six years ago when the technology was directed in a very different place, which was a COVID-19 vaccine. And we had some pretty exciting data. It really did feel like that, although here the pandemic, if you can call it that, we're talking about, is serious cancer.
So what do you... we talked about this story yesterday, but I couldn't quite get my head around, not being a medical man, the significance of what this is going to treat, the range of melanomas, the fact that this is going to prevent a repetition of it. So how big do you believe this is going to be?
Look, when you're talking about a serious disease, you always want to be measured in what this could do. But I think the data that we have from the Phase 2 studies, which have been now followed for five years already, indicates an improvement in both of these risk scores, both for risk-free survival and disease metastasis-free, are significant five years out. And it's to the tune of 45, 50% improvement over what is already the gold standard, which is Keytruda. And so when you combine both of these medicines, you start reducing the impact of the disease by north of 60, 70%. That's a major, major difference in patients' lives. Now, the Phase 3 trial, for which we have not yet released any specific data, but we did say that the trial on an interim early analysis already met its top-line and secondary results. That is a much larger trial. And it was in resected Stage 2B to 4 melanoma. These are metastasized in many cases. And so that is a broader group, but also I think quite indicative of the potential for this approach.
For Moderna, the general consensus seems to be this moves the company from, if you will, a vaccine, if you will, to put it crudely, company into the blockbuster category. Now I understand, sir, that that's not your goal and I understand that Moderna's goal is much more to do with the treatment of serious illnesses. But if this follows through, you do become a mega player with a blockbuster drug.
Well, look, Richard, the interesting thing, since you've known the company for a while and even before COVID, is that we were working on an immunotherapy, effectively what people call a vaccine against cancer, for now ten years. So before COVID existed and before we were working on additional infectious diseases, we set out to use the body's own immune system to combat cancer. It's just that the road to prove it as definitively as we believe our Phase 3 results will be, is a long one. And so we've actually, ironically, gone from being a cancer-focused company to an infectious disease-focused one. And now back to both.
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Afeyan, N. (2026, August 21). Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan on the breakthrough that led to its new melanoma vaccine [Interview transcript]. Quest Means Business. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1236071/
MLA
Noubar Afeyan. "Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan on the breakthrough that led to its new melanoma vaccine." Quest Means Business, 21 Aug. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1236071/.
BibTeX
@misc{afeyan2026_1236071,
author = {Noubar Afeyan},
title = {Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan on the breakthrough that led to its new melanoma vaccine},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Quest Means Business. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {aug},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1236071/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
