By Michael Erman and Julie Steenhuysen Aug 28 (Reuters) - Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, was at a Lebanese restaurant celebrating a friend’s birthday late on August 13 when he got the call. An mRNA cancer vaccine the company had been developing with Merck had hit its mark — the first success of a therapeutic cancer vaccine in late-stage testing after more than 100 years of failed attempts.

A personalized mRNA vaccine for melanoma reduced the risk of the cancer returning in a phase III clinical trial, the companies behind the trial announced this week. The vaccine — which relies on the same mRNA technology used to develop COVID-19 shots — is the first mRNA-based cancer treatment to show success in a late-stage trial.

BioNTech says it’s ending a Phase 2 trial for its investigational personalized mRNA cancer vaccine. It was being tested to treat colorectal cancer.

Dolly Parton‘s extraordinary legacy extended far beyond country music — with the late star even helping fund crucial research behind Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine. In April 2020, as the pandemic swept

Moderna and Merck's wild gambit on a cancer vaccine appears to have worked, despite big doubts, logistical challenges, and pandemic-era complications.

The companies have not published the trial data but said in a news release that the experimental treatment extended the time before cancer returned in high-risk patients.

The biotech company will sell notes due 2032, with an option to raise an additional $300 million, days after its stock hit a multi-year high

Personalized mRNA shots may prove neither as wide-reaching nor as lucrative as hoped.

BioNTech's colorectal cancer vaccine just collapsed in a Phase 2 trial, dragging Moderna down with it despite last week's melanoma triumph, and the fallout is forcing investors to rethink how far mRNA technology can actually reach into solid tumors.