Melanoma was slower to recur in patients receiving Merck and Moderna's mRNA vaccine with Keytruda, supporting use of the combination in adjuvant treatment. The partners plan to take the data to the FDA.

Merck (MRK) stock slips as RBC Capital Markets cuts on valuation while Morgan Stanley upgrades on trial data for Moderna (MRNA)-partnered cancer shot. Read more here.

Merck, which makes the popular cancer treatment Keytruda, is poised to gain ground as its pipeline drugs get close to coming to market, per Morgan Stanley.

You do not expect a pharmaceutical giant with a $376 billion market cap to put up numbers that make growth investors blush. Yet over the last 12 months, Merck (MRK) handed investors an 80% return, lapping the S&P 500.

MRK remains a defensive, yield-generating diversification play, but near-term upside appears constrained by valuation and expectations.