FDA Grants Fast Track Designation to SOTIO’s SOT109, a CDH17-targeting ADC for Colorectal Cancer

On July 14, 2026 SOTIO Biotech, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company owned by PPF Group, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation (FTD) to SOT109, the company’s potentially best-in-class antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), for the treatment of patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) who have exhausted standard treatment options.

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SOT109 targets CDH17, a highly prevalent antigen expressed in more than 90% of CRC cases and broadly across gastrointestinal malignancies, supporting the potential for broad clinical utility and a favorable therapeutic index.

"Advanced colorectal cancer remains an area of profound unmet need, particularly for patients whose disease has progressed after standard therapies," said Vivi Boura, M.D., chief medical officer of SOTIO. "SOT109 is designed to capitalize on the unique biology of CDH17, a highly prevalent target that is broadly and consistently expressed across colorectal tumors, while having limited expression in healthy tissues. We believe Fast Track Designation underscores both the urgent need for new treatment options and the potential of SOT109 to expand the benefits of targeted ADC therapy to a substantially broader patient population."

FTD enables more frequent interactions with the FDA regarding development strategy, clinical trial design and data requirements and may provide eligibility for accelerated approval and priority review, subject to applicable criteria.

SOTIO expects to initiate a Phase 1/2 trial of SOT109 in patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic CRC in Q3 2026.

(Press release, SOTIO, JUL 14, 2026, View Source [SID1234669223])

Ernexa Therapeutics CEO Corner Highlights Differentiated ERNA-101 Platform as Company Advances Toward Planned First-in-Human Phase 1 Study in 2026

On July 14, 2026 Ernexa Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ERNA), an industry innovator developing novel cell therapies for the treatment of advanced cancer and autoimmune disease, reported a new installment of its CEO Corner series featuring President and Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Luther discussing the significant unmet need in ovarian cancer, the Company’s differentiated approach with ERNA-101 and Ernexa’s progress toward advancing its lead cell therapy candidate into the clinic in the fourth quarter of 2026.

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Ovarian cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers affecting women worldwide. While treatment options have improved over time, many patients eventually experience disease recurrence and progression, leaving limited options for women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. In the discussion, Mr. Luther explains how the ability of many ovarian tumors to evade immune detection represents one of the greatest scientific challenges in the disease and why ERNA-101 is designed to help overcome this barrier.

"Every ovarian cancer diagnosis impacts far more than a single patient. It affects families, loved ones and futures, which is why we believe there remains an urgent need for new therapeutic approaches," said Sanjeev Luther, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ernexa Therapeutics. "At Ernexa, we believe ERNA-101 has the potential to address one of the greatest scientific challenges in ovarian cancer by helping transform immunologically ‘cold’ tumors into tumors the immune system can recognize. This CEO Corner provides additional insight into the science behind our approach, the encouraging preclinical data supporting ERNA-101 and the progress we are making as we advance toward our planned first-in-human Phase 1 study in the fourth quarter of this year."

The discussion also highlights ERNA-101, Ernexa’s lead cell therapy candidate, which is designed to deliver a proprietary immune-activating cytokine directly within the tumor microenvironment with the goal of transforming immunologically "cold" tumors into tumors the immune system can recognize. Mr. Luther also discusses the Company’s proprietary off-the-shelf induced mesenchymal stem cell (iMSC) platform, which the Company believes has the potential to improve manufacturing consistency, increase scalability and ultimately make advanced cell therapies more broadly accessible to patients.

The CEO Corner also reviews encouraging preclinical findings demonstrating complete tumor clearance and 100% long-term survival in preclinical ovarian cancer models when ERNA-101 was combined with PD-1 blockade. Mr. Luther also discusses findings demonstrating remodeling of the tumor microenvironment and increased immune cell infiltration, which further support the scientific rationale behind ERNA-101. He concludes by reviewing the Company’s ongoing manufacturing, regulatory and clinical development activities as Ernexa advances toward its planned IND submission expected in Q3 2026 and anticipated first-in-human clinical study anticipated to start in Q4 2026.

The Ernexa CEO Corner is now accessible on the Company’s website and social media channels. Access it here.

(Press release, Ernexa Therapeutics, JUL 14, 2026, View Source [SID1234669222])

CancerVax Develops Novel Smart mRNA to Harness Pre-Existing Immunity in 99% of World Population

On July 14, 2026 CancerVax, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough universal cancer treatment platform that "tricks" the body’s immune system into fighting cancer, reported that it has successfully developed a single Polyepitope Smart mRNA that can disguise cancer cells as multiple viral infections.

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The CancerVax platform is designed to harness the body’s existing immunity to detect, mark, and kill cancer cells with precision. At the core of the platform is a Smart mRNA that activates selectively in cancer cells. When activated, this Smart mRNA instructs cancer cells to produce proteins associated with viruses that are highly prevalent in the human population. This effectively disguises cancer cells as familiar viral infections and "tricks" the immune system into recognizing and killing them.

"Our earlier work focused on individual viral epitopes, such as measles," explained Dr. George Katibah, Chief Scientific Officer. "With our Polyepitope Smart mRNA design, we have expanded that concept by encoding multiple viral epitopes with broad population immunity, including measles, influenza, CMV and others, into a single mRNA construct. This approach is designed to increase the probability that a patient’s existing T-cell immunity will recognize at least one of these viral signals and direct an immune response against the cancer cell. Our recent in vitro results provide encouraging validation of this strategy and represent an important step toward a broadly applicable cancer immunotherapy platform."

Dr. Adam Grant, Principal Scientist, added, "Using large-scale immune epitope datasets and AI-assisted analysis, we identified and combined the most viable viral epitopes for our design to maximize the broadest population coverage. With every epitope we add, we increase the likelihood of activating existing T-cells. However, given the physical size constraints of practical mRNA design, we had to be selective. Using computational analysis, we designed a Version 1 Polyepitope Smart mRNA that provided a global population coverage of 96.26%. Since then, we’ve expanded our dataset and generated Version 2, which has a population coverage of 99.50%! This is truly a one of a kind mRNA design and we believe this broad and universal approach will be the winner we take to the clinic."

The Immune Epitope Database ("IEDB") population coverage algorithm was used to generate the following analysis of V1 and V2 Polyepitope Smart mRNA designs. IEDB, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is the gold standard repository for experimentally validated immune epitope data.

(Press release, CancerVax, JUL 14, 2026, View Source [SID1234669221])

Crescent Biopharma Announces Proposed Public Offering of Ordinary Shares and Pre-Funded Warrants

On July 14, 2026 Crescent Biopharma, Inc. ("Crescent" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: CBIO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to rapidly advancing the next wave of therapies for cancer patients, reported that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of its ordinary shares or, in lieu of ordinary shares to investors that so choose, pre-funded warrants to purchase its ordinary shares. In addition, Crescent intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the ordinary shares at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. All of the ordinary shares and pre-funded warrants to be sold in the proposed offering are being offered by Crescent. The proposed offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the proposed offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the proposed offering.

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Jefferies, TD Cowen, Guggenheim Securities and Cantor are acting as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering. LifeSci Capital is acting as passive book-running manager for the proposed offering.

The securities described above are being offered by Crescent pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3, including a base prospectus, that was previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and was declared effective on July 10, 2026. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to this offering will be filed with the SEC. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus can be accessed through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the prospectus supplement relating to the proposed offering may be obtained, when available, by contacting Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022, by telephone at (877) 821-7388, or by email at [email protected]; TD Securities (USA) LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or by email at [email protected]; Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 330 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10017, by telephone at (212) 518-9544, or by email at [email protected]; Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Attention: Capital Markets, 110 East 59th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10022, or by email at [email protected]; and LifeSci Capital LLC, Attention: LifeSci Capital LLC, 1700 Broadway, 40th Floor, New York, NY 10019, or by email at [email protected].

(Press release, Crescent Biopharma, JUL 14, 2026, View Source [SID1234669220])

Celcuity Announces FDA Approval of REVTORPYK™ (gedatolisib) for the Treatment of HR+/HER2-, PIK3CA Wild-Type Locally Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer

On July 14, 2026 Celcuity Inc. (Nasdaq: CELC), a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for multiple solid tumor indications, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approved REVTORPYK (gedatolisib) for the treatment of patients with hormone receptor positive ("HR+"), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative ("HER2-"), locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer without a PIK3CA mutation detected following progression on or after treatment with at least one line of endocrine therapy in the metastatic setting. REVTORPYK is the only inhibitor of class I PI3K isoforms (α, β, δ, γ) and mTOR complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2 to receive FDA approval.

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"The PI3K/AKT/mTOR, or PAM, pathway is one of the most important targets in cancer, but comprehensively inhibiting it has stymied researchers and drug developers for nearly two decades," said Brian Sullivan, CEO and co-founder of Celcuity. "REVTORPYK addressed this 20-year challenge by becoming the first pan-PI3K, mTORC1/2 inhibitor approved by the FDA. We are thankful for the opportunity to make this important new therapy available to patients with HR+/HER2- locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer."

HR+/HER2- breast cancer is the most common subtype of breast cancer, accounting for approximately 70% of all breast cancers.1 Among this breast cancer subtype, approximately 60% have PIK3CA wild-type disease.2

"For patients with HR+/HER2- locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, there is an urgent need for new treatment options that can meaningfully increase the likelihood of survival without disease progression or death," said Sara Hurvitz, MD, Senior Vice President, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Smith Family Endowed Chair in Women’s Health and Professor and Head, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Washington, School of Medicine and co-principal investigator for the VIKTORIA-1 trial. "With the approval of REVTORPYK, oncologists now have an effective new treatment option for these patients."

The approval of REVTORPYK is based on positive clinical results from the PIK3CA wild-type cohort of the Phase 3 VIKTORIA-1 trial, an open-label, global, randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of REVTORPYK plus fulvestrant, with or without palbociclib, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic HR+/HER2- breast cancer following progression on or after CDK4/6 therapy and an aromatase inhibitor. In the VIKTORIA-1 trial, median progression free survival ("PFS") with the REVTORPYK triplet (REVTORPYK plus palbociclib and fulvestrant) was 9.3 months versus 2.0 months with fulvestrant, an incremental improvement of 7.3 months (HR=0.24; 95% CI: 0.17-0.35; p<0.0001). The objective response rate ("ORR") of the REVTORPYK triplet was 32% compared to 1% with fulvestrant and the median duration of response ("DOR") was 17.5 months. For the REVTORPYK doublet (REVTORPYK plus fulvestrant), the median PFS was 7.4 months versus 2.0 months with fulvestrant, an incremental improvement of 5.4 months (HR=0.33; 95% CI: 0.24-0.48; p<0.0001). The ORR of the REVTORPYK doublet was 28% and the median DOR was 12.0 months. The median DOR was not determinable for fulvestrant because there was only one objective response.

"Today’s approval of REVTORPYK addresses a significant unmet need for the thousands of patients affected each year by HR+/HER2-, PIK3CA wild-type locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer whose disease has progressed after endocrine therapy," said Igor Gorbatchevsky, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Celcuity. "We are deeply grateful to the patients and their caregivers, investigators and clinical study teams, and Celcuity team members who made this advancement possible."

Celcuity anticipates commercial launch in late Q3 2026. Based on the company’s commitment to ensuring broad, affordable, and unrestricted patient access to REVTORPYK, we have designed a comprehensive patient support program. To make REVTORPYK available to patients prior to commercial launch, those who are eligible will be able to enroll in Celcuity’s expanded access program.

Celcuity plans to submit in Q3 2026 a supplemental New Drug Application ("sNDA") to the FDA for REVTORPYK for the treatment of HR+/HER2-, PIK3CA mutated, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, following at least one line of endocrine therapy based on results from the mutant cohort of the Phase 3 VIKTORIA-1 trial. Results for this study were recently presented in a late-breaking abstract oral session at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting. Following the sNDA submission, Celcuity intends to submit VIKTORIA-1 data for marketing authorization of gedatolisib to other regulatory authorities around the world.

REVTORPYK is also being studied in the ongoing Phase 3 VIKTORIA-2 clinical trial incorporating two independent studies evaluating two separate patient cohorts with HR+/HER2- locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who are treatment-naive in the advanced setting.

Webcast and Conference Call Information

The Celcuity management team will host a live webcast and conference call on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. EDT / 4:30 p.m. CDT to discuss the FDA approval of REVTORPYK. Those who would like to participate may access the live webcast here, or register in advance for the teleconference here. A replay of the webcast will be available on the Celcuity website.

About REVTORPYK (gedatolisib)
REVTORPYK is a kinase inhibitor of class I PI3K isoforms (α, β, δ, γ) and mTOR complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2, resulting in downstream inhibition of multiple effectors, including AKT.3.4.5

REVTORPYK is in development for the first-line treatment of HR+/HER2- locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer and for the second-line treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer.

Indication Statement
REVTORPYK (gedatolisib) is a kinase inhibitor indicated in combination with fulvestrant, with or without palbociclib, for the treatment of adult patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer without a PIK3CA mutation detected following progression on or after treatment with at least one line of endocrine therapy in the metastatic setting.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Stomatitis: REVTORPYK can cause severe stomatitis, including ulcers and oral mucositis. Stomatitis occurred in 72% of patients treated with REVTORPYK with fulvestrant and palbociclib, including Grade 3 events in 22% of patients. Stomatitis occurred in 58% of patients treated with REVTORPYK with fulvestrant, including Grade 3 events in 12% of patients. Initiate a steroid-containing, alcohol-free mouthwash prior to starting treatment with REVTORPYK and continue prophylactically during treatment. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of stomatitis. Withhold, reduce dose, or permanently discontinue REVTORPYK based on severity.

Dermatologic Adverse Reactions: REVTORPYK can cause severe rash. Rash occurred in 30% of patients treated with REVTORPYK in combination with fulvestrant and palbociclib, including Grade 3 events in 6% of patients. Rash occurred in 40% of patients treated with REVTORPYK with fulvestrant, including 5% of patients with Grade 3 events. Monitor patients for rash and infectious sequelae. Instruct patients to limit sun exposure during REVTORPYK treatment. Withhold, reduce dose, or permanently discontinue REVTORPYK based on severity.

Hyperglycemia: REVTORPYK can cause severe hyperglycemia. Monitor fasting glucose prior to initiating treatment with REVTORPYK and periodically during treatment. Monitor HbA1c level if clinically indicated. Increased fasting glucose occurred in 46% of patients receiving REVTORPYK in combination with fulvestrant and palbociclib (Grade 3: 0.9%) and in 57% of patients receiving REVTORPYK in combination with fulvestrant (Grade 3: 1.8%). The safety of REVTORPYK has not been established in patients with Type 1 or uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients with well-controlled Type 2 diabetes may require intensified antihyperglycemic therapy and close monitoring of fasting glucose. Manage hyperglycemia with antihyperglycemic medications as clinically indicated. Evaluate fastingblood glucose and HbA1c levels prior to starting and at regular intervals during treatment. Withhold, reduce dose, or permanently discontinue REVTORPYK based on severity.

Embryo-Fetal Toxicity: Based on its mechanism of action, REVTORPYK can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women and females of reproductive potential of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with REVTORPYK and for 2 weeks after the last dose. Advise male patients with female partners of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment and for 2 weeks after the last dose.

Advise women not to breastfeed during treatment with REVTORPYK and for 2 weeks after the last dose. When REVTORPYK is used in combination, advise patients to use effective contraception during treatment and for the longest post-treatment duration recommended in the Prescribing Information of any of the individual products. Verify the pregnancy status of females of reproductive potential prior to initiating treatment.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

REVTORPYK in Combination with Fulvestrant and Palbociclib: The most common (≥20%) adverse reactions, including laboratory abnormalities when given in combination with fulvestrant and palbociclib were decreased white blood cells, decreased neutrophils, decreased hemoglobin, decreased lymphocytes, stomatitis, nausea, decreased platelets, increased fasting glucose, fatigue, vomiting, rash, constipation, diarrhea, increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST), musculoskeletal pain, decreased sodium, and increased eosinophils.

REVTORPYK in Combination with Fulvestrant: The most common (≥20%) adverse reactions, including laboratory abnormalities when given in combination with fulvestrant were stomatitis, glucose increased, eosinophils increased, hemoglobin decreased, nausea, rash, ALT increased, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, lymphocytes decreased, vomiting, AST increased, pruritus, and diarrhea.

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATION

Lactation: Advise women not to breastfeed during treatment with REVTORPYK and for 2 weeks after the last dose. When used in combination, advise patients not to breastfeed during treatment and for the longest post-treatment duration recommended in the Prescribing Information of any of the individual products.

Infertility: Advise females and males of reproductive potential that REVTORPYK may impair fertility.

Please see full Prescribing Information, including Patient Information, for REVTORPYK.

(Press release, Celcuity, JUL 14, 2026, View Source [SID1234669219])