Moderna employees gathered at the company’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, headquarters at 11 a.m. on Wednesday after work paused for all 4,500 staff members. Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel, visibly emotional and reading from a notecard, told workers that Moderna’s decadeslong effort to use mRNA (genetic instructions that guide cells to make proteins) to treat cancer had achieved a major breakthrough with melanoma patients. The event was broadcast to offices in the U.S. and Europe, with some employees joining from Asia. Moderna’s shares were shown up 8.86%. Bancel compared the moment with the company’s announcement of its Covid vaccine data during the depths of the pandemic and said Aug. 19, 2026, should be remembered as the start of a new chapter. Employees celebrated with sparkling wine, hugs and tears.