What happened Shares of Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) were vaulting 9.3% higher as of 3:24 p.m. EST on Wednesday. The big gain came after the biotech announced interim data from an early stage clinical study evaluating its personalized cancer vaccine mRNA-4157 in combination with Merck's cancer immunotherapy Keytruda. So what Moderna's interim results were from an expansion cohort of its ongoing phase 1 study that included 10 patients with HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and 17 patients with micro-satellite stable colorectal cancer (MSS-CRC). Two of the HNSCC patients who received the mRNA-4157/Keytruda combo achieved a complete response with no cancer detected. Three other HNSCC patients achieved partial remission. Image source: Getty Images. The company stated that the data obtained so far show that mRNA-4157 is well tolerated. Adverse events that have been reported in the study were typically of a low severity level and reversible. The only negative with Moderna's interim results was that no responses were observed in the patients with MSS-CRC who received the mRNA-4157/Keytruda combo. These results should increase investors' confidence in Moderna's pipeline beyond its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The company has four other clinical-stage mRNA candidates targeting cancer, including another experimental cancer vaccine in phase 1 testing. Now what Moderna will now expand the size of the cohort of HNSCC patients in the phase 1 study of mRNA-4157 and Keytruda. The big story for the biotech stock, though, remains its coronavirus vaccine candidate mRNA-1273. Moderna expects to have enough safety data to file for FDA emergency use authorization for the experimental vaccine later this month. 10 stocks we like better than Moderna INCWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Moderna INC wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2020 Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source