American laboratories Moderna and Merck announced on Wednesday that they have reached an agreement to jointly develop and commercialize a messenger RNA vaccine, which is currently being tested in combination with an anticancer drug for patients at high risk of skin cancer, writes AFP.

Moderna and Merck, whose products are sold as MSD outside of North America, have been collaborating since 2016 to develop a cancer vaccine.

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will now pay Moderna $250 million to exercise the option agreed upon at the start of their partnership and to take the next steps to bring the product to market.

The two companies will share costs and potential benefits.

Moderna shares rose 11% in New York trading, while Merck rose 0.1%.

After several years of research without any visible product on the market, Moderna made a spectacular entry into the pharmaceutical market, being one of the first with Pfizer-BioNTech to offer a Covid-19 vaccine using messenger RNA technology.

The company believes that this method, which allows human cells to produce proteins present in the virus to teach the immune system to recognize and neutralize them, could also be used to treat flu, HIV, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.

Merck, for its part, benefits greatly from its cancer drug Keytruda, which accounts for about a third of its sales.

Results from a phase 2 trial, which is currently testing a messenger RNA vaccine given along with Keytruda in patients at high risk of developing melanoma, are expected by the end of the year.

Some vaccines already exist to prevent (for example, the HPV vaccine) or treat cancer. But more clinical trials are now underway to treat a wide range of cancers.