Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, reporting on the crossroads of drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He is also a co-host of the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and author of the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54.

MADRID — Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel had every reason to be smiling and happy on a brilliantly sunny Saturday afternoon here in Spain’s capital. In a couple of hours, a decade of the company’s research — boosted by a partnership with Merck — was going to culminate in the presentation of the first Phase 3 study to successfully demonstrate that a customized mRNA-based therapy called intismeran could improve outcomes for patients with melanoma.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” he told STAT from the sidelines of the European Society for Medical Oncology annual meeting. “We’ve been working on intismeran for 10 years.…