BUZZ - Moderna recovers some ground as Bank of America raises price target and key cancer vaccine trial results are about to be announced

October 19 - ** Moderna MRNA.O shares rose 5% to 229 dollars, recovering last Friday’s (link) 7.8% decline

** The share price is still about 5.5% below Thursday’s 52-week high of 242.29 dollars

** The rebound was mainly driven by late-stage (link) cancer vaccine data jointly developed with Merck MRK.N; detailed results will be announced at the ESMO conference on October 24

** Bank of America Global raised the target price from 200 dollars to 220 dollars and maintained a "neutral" rating; pointed out that expected "positive data points" have already been "reflected in the share price"

** The focus of the medical conference will be on the degree of treatment benefit and the consistency of efficacy among IIB-IV stage patients; this will affect how much confidence investors place in upcoming results of renal cancer, bladder cancer, and lung cancer studies

** Including today’s gains, MRNA shares have risen more than sevenfold since the start of the year

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