On June 1, 2026 Imugene Limited (ASX:IMU), a clinical-stage immunooncology company, reported that azer-cel (azercabtagene zapreleucel) Phase 1b clinical data has been presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
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The data was presented by Dr Supriya Gupta, University of Minnesota in the Oral Abstract Session Hematologic Malignancies: Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, on 29 May 2026 at 1:00 PM CDT.
ASCO is the world’s leading oncology conference, with more than 40,000 oncology professionals, researchers, and investors attending globally each year. Of more than 8,500 abstracts submitted for consideration at the 2026 Annual Meeting, only a small proportion were selected for oral presentation which is a distinction awarded by ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper)’s peer reviewed Scientific Program Committee on the basis of clinical significance and scientific quality. Oral selection places azer-cel among the most significant data readouts of the conference.
As demonstrated by the data presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) on 29 May, 2026; 25 patients in the CAR-T naive cohort with relapsed or refractory blood cancers received azer-cel in combination with low-dose IL-2, and 24 were evaluable for response following their first disease assessment at Day 28. Among these 24 patients, responses were observed across all six cancer subtypes, including:
• DLBCL: 67% response rate
• MZL: 83% response rate
• CLL: 100% response rate
• PCNSL: 50% response rate
• FL: 100% response rate
• WM: 100% response rate
Leslie Chong, Managing Director and CEO of Imugene, said: "The level of interest and depth of questioning from clinicians and researchers at our oral presentation at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) was genuinely encouraging. These are some of the most rigorous scientific minds in oncology, and the engagement we saw reflects growing recognition of azer-cel and its potential to offer patients further treatment options. We look forward to providing further updates as the data matures."
The ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Presentation is available at imugene.com/investors/conferencepresentations.
The Phase 1b azer-cel clinical trial is a multi-cohort study evaluating patients with relapsed or refractory CD19-positive B-cell malignancies (blood cancers), including both CAR-T naïve and CAR-T relapsed/refractory cohorts. The study has recently expanded into Cohort 3, which evaluates azer-cel in concurrent dosing with Bruton Tyrosine Kinase inhibitors (BTKi). The first patient in this cohort was dosed on 28 May 2026.
The trial is active across ten US sites and five Australian sites.
(Press release, Imugene, JUN 1, 2026, View Source [SID1234666259])