This Moderna Co-Founder Is A Billionaire Again

Moderna co-founder Robert Langer is a billionaire once again, according to Forbes’ estimates, as shares in the biotech giant doubled in value on Wednesday following positive results from a late-stage trial of a cancer vaccine.

Langer, who is believed to retain a roughly 3% stake in Moderna, though his holdings are no longer publicly disclosed, saw his equity in the biotech firm rise to about $1.7 billion as of Wednesday’s share price, up from roughly $730 million on Tuesday.

His stake was estimated at $343 million when Moderna shares hit a low of $29.81 on Jan. 2.

Fellow co-founder Noubar Afeyan saw his net worth jump $184 million to $2.1 billion, while CEO Stéphane Bancel’s fortune swelled $2.5 billion to $4.8 billion.

Timothy Springer, a founding investor, had his net worth increase by $948 million to an estimated $2.2 billion.

Shares of Moderna rocketed by 156% to around $161 as of Wednesday morning, adding more than $100 in value to the stock after the firm announced results from its first-ever late-stage trial of an experimental melanoma vaccine. The vaccine, an mRNA-based shot combined with Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda, marked the first successful final-stage study for any mRNA-based cancer therapy after Moderna said the drug helped cut the recurrence of severe skin cancer and extended the time patients lived without their melanoma returning.