Transgene jumps 20% on positive cancer vaccine data in early trial

NEC

03/09/2026 09:20

Sept 3 (Reuters) - Transgene TRNG.PA shares surged 20% in early Paris trading on Thursday, after the French biotechnology company reported positive Phase 1 trial data on its vaccine candidate for head and neck cancer.
Investors have rewarded encouraging data from other personalised cancer-vaccine programmes as well: Moderna shares more than doubled after its melanoma vaccine data showed a reduction in the risk of recurrence or death.
TG4050 is an individualised vaccine developed with Japan's NEC Corp 6701.T, whose AI technology selects patient-specific tumour targets, for patients with high-risk head and neck cancer after surgery and chemoradiotherapy.
All 16 patients treated with TG4050 remained disease-free, versus three relapses among 16 patients in the control arm, Transgene said on Wednesday.
Kempen analyst Chiara Montironi said the longer follow-up provided a "robust dataset" supporting TG4050's potential to prevent relapse, which would support the stock. 
The study's authors noted that the small number of patients and events is insufficient to establish a statistically significant benefit.
Transgene expects Phase 2 immunological data in the second half of 2026 and two-year efficacy data in the first quarter of 2028.

(Reporting by Lucie Barbier in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
((Email: lucie.barbier@thomsonreuters.com))