Ono Pharma Announces Upcoming Presentations at the ASCO 2026 Annual Meeting

On April 21, 2026 Ono Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; President and COO: Toichi Takino; "Ono"), reported two upcoming presentations at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) annual meeting to be held in Chicago, Illinois, from May 29 to June 2, 2026.

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ONO-4578
Monday, June 1, 2026, 9:45 am to 12:45 pm CT, Oral Presentation
Abstract Number: 4007
Title: ONO-4578 combined with nivolumab and chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with HER2-negative unresectable advanced or recurrent gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer: a randomized, double-blind, phase 2 trial (ONO-4578-08)
Presenter: Sung Hee Lim, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Nivolumab (OPDIVO)
Monday, June 1, 2026, 9:45 am to 12:45 pm CT, Oral Presentation
Abstract Number: 4006
Title: Nivolumab plus ipilimumab combined with chemotherapy as first-line treatment for HER2-negative unresectable advanced or recurrent gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer: a randomized phase 3 trial (ATTRACTION-6)
Presenter: Do-Youn Oh, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

About ONO-4578
ONO-4578 is a selective, oral antagonist of EP4, which is one of the prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) receptors, developed by Ono. ONO-4578 is expected to exert antitumor effect by suppressing EP4-mediated effect of PGE2 and by restoring cancer immunity1). Based on the results of clinical trials in patients with gastric cancer that will be presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2026, we are currently working with our group company, Deciphera, to advance preparations for the initiation of a global Phase III clinical trial.

About nivolumab (OPDIVO)
Opdivo is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor that is designed to uniquely harness the body’s own immune system to help restore anti-tumor immune response by blocking the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands. By harnessing the body’s own immune system to fight cancer, Opdivo has become an important treatment option across multiple cancers since the approval for the treatment of melanoma in Japan in July 2014. Opdivo is currently approved in more than 65 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the US and European Union.

(Press release, Ono, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664641])

Inhibrx Provides Clinical Update on Ozekibart (INBRX-109) in Late Line Colorectal Cancer

On April 21, 2026 Inhibrx Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: INBX) ("Inhibrx" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel biologic therapeutic candidates, reported updated interim data from its Phase 1/2 study evaluating ozekibart (INBRX-109) in combination with FOLFIRI in patients with locally advanced or metastatic, unresectable colorectal cancer (CRC).

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As of April 10, 2026, the cutoff date, the CRC cohort continued to demonstrate a compelling signal of activity in a heavily pretreated patient population. Of the 45 evaluable patients, approximately 70% received ozekibart as a fourth-line therapy, and 80% had previously progressed on irinotecan-based regimens. The following data were observed as of the cutoff date:

Objective Response Rate (ORR): Efficacy was assessed in 45 evaluable patients, resulting in an ORR of 20% per RECIST v1.1 criteria. Historically, the current standard of care has yielded limited response rates (ORR of 1-6% per RECIST v1.1 criteria). Nearly half of responses were durable with a duration of response exceeding 6 months. Responses were observed irrespective of RAS/RAF mutation status.

Progression-Free Survival (PFS): The median PFS for the evaluable population was 5.5 months. Notably, 42% of patients remained progression-free at the 6-month landmark, with 9 patients remaining on therapy, suggesting that a significant portion of patients achieve durable disease control that extends well beyond the median PFS.

Disease Control Rate (DCR): The overall disease control rate (partial responses and stable disease as best response) remained robust at 87%, further supporting the potential of ozekibart to control tumor growth in a heavily pre-treated population.

Safety and tolerability: Ozekibart in combination with FOLFIRI continues to maintain a manageable safety profile. The most common treatment-related adverse events (TEAEs) were diarrhea, fatigue, and nausea, which were largely Grade 1 or 2 and consistent with the known side effects of FOLFIRI. Despite the majority of the patients (68%) presenting with liver metastases at baseline, no significant liver toxicity was observed.
"The meaningful response rate and PFS, together with a manageable safety profile in this heavily pre-treated population, are highly encouraging and support our plans to advance into first line, where the potential for deeper and more durable responses may be even greater," said Mark Lappe, Chief Executive Officer of Inhibrx Biosciences. "It also highlights the opportunity for broader expansion of ozekibart into other indications, which we continue to explore."

Inhibrx plans to meet with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the second half of 2026 to discuss plans to initiate a first-line registrational trial in CRC. The Company also plans to discuss with the FDA the potential for accelerated regulatory pathways for ozekibart in fourth-line colorectal cancer and in refractory Ewing sarcoma. Additionally, the Company submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA for ozekibart in conventional chondrosarcoma in April 2026.

The Company will host a live webcast presentation today, April 21, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time to further discuss the results.

About the Conference Call

Investors may join via the web: View Source or may listen to the call by dialing (1-888-880-3330). Please refer to Inhibrx Biosciences, Inc. or the conference ID 9536529 when calling in. Following the webcast, the presentation may be accessed through a link on the "Events and Presentations" section of Inhibrx’s website. The webcast will be available for 60 days following the event. Following the presentation, Inhibrx will also update its corporate presentation within the "Investors" section of its website at www.inhibrx.com.

About ozekibart (INBRX-109)

Ozekibart is a precision-engineered, tetravalent death receptor 5 (DR5) agonist antibody designed to exploit the tumor-biased cell death induced by DR5 activation. In January 2021, the FDA granted Fast Track designation to ozekibart for the treatment of patients with metastatic or unresectable conventional chondrosarcoma, and, in November 2021, the FDA granted orphan drug designation to ozekibart for chondrosarcoma.

In June 2021, Inhibrx initiated a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, registrational trial of ozekibart in metastatic, unresectable conventional chondrosarcoma. The trial enrolled a total of 206 patients across 67 different sites worldwide. In October 2025, Inhibrx announced the ChonDRAgon study met its primary endpoint of a statistically significant and clinically meaningful median progression-free survival (PFS) for patients with advanced or metastatic chondrosarcoma treated with ozekibart compared to placebo. Ozekibart achieved a 52% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to placebo (stratified Hazard Ratio [HR] 0.479; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.68); P<0.0001), more than doubling median PFS to 5.52 months versus 2.66 months for placebo. Importantly, ozekibart is the first investigational therapy to demonstrate a significant PFS benefit in a randomized trial for chondrosarcoma, a disease with no approved systemic options.

The benefit of ozekibart was consistent across all pre-specified subgroups, including patients with IDH-wild-type and IDH-mutant tumors. Other key secondary endpoints, including disease control rate (54% vs 27.5%), and delay to deterioration in pain and physical function, further supported the clinical benefit observed with ozekibart.

(Press release, Inhibrx, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664640])

Nektar Therapeutics Announces Pricing of Upsized $325 Million Public Offering

On April 21, 2026 Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative medicines in the field of immunotherapy, reported the pricing of its upsized underwritten public offering of $325 million of shares of its common stock. Nektar is selling 3,532,609 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $92.00 per share. The gross proceeds to Nektar from the offering are expected to be approximately $325 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. In addition, Nektar has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 529,891 shares of its common stock at the public offering price per share, less underwriting discounts and commissions. All of the securities being sold in this offering are being offered by Nektar. The offering is expected to close on April 23, 2026, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions.

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Nektar intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include research and development, clinical development (including Phase 3 trials for rezpegaldesleukin in atopic dermatitis and alopecia areata) and manufacturing costs to support the advancement of its drug candidates, as well as other general corporate purposes.

Jefferies, TD Cowen, and Piper Sandler are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Citigroup is also acting as a bookrunner for the offering.

The securities described above are being offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (No. 333-291466) that was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on November 12, 2025 and automatically became effective upon filing. This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and an accompanying prospectus that form a part of the registration statement.

A final prospectus supplement related to and describing the terms of the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website located at www.sec.gov. Copies of the final prospectus supplement and an accompanying prospectus related to the offering may also be obtained, when available, from 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]; Piper Sandler & Co., 350 North 5th Street, Suite 1000, Minneapolis, MN 55401, Attention: Prospectus Department, by telephone at (800) 747-3924, or by email at [email protected]; or Citigroup, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 (Tel: 800-831-9146).

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state or jurisdiction.

(Press release, Nektar Therapeutics, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664639])

Verismo Therapeutics Presents Preclinical Data at AACR 2026 for SynKIR™-310 KIR-CAR Indicating Superior Preclinical Activity in B Cell Malignancies and Early Clinical Efficacy

On April 21, 2026 Verismo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage CAR T cell therapy company pioneering a novel multi-chain KIR-CAR platform technology, reported new preclinical in vivo data for SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR living medicine, highlighting KIR-CAR’s superior anti-tumor activity and improved cytokine profile compared to conventional single-chain CAR T in B cell malignancies. Early clinical data for SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR were also announced from a multi-site Phase 1 clinical trial, CELESTIAL-301 (NCT06544265) for patients with B cell lymphomas, highlighting a patient’s ongoing complete response after 6 months. These data were presented on April 21 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego, CA (Poster Number: 5193).

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"While single-chain CAR T therapies have revolutionized blood cancer treatment, nearly half of blood cancer patients who initially respond relapse as early as six months after treatment,[1]" said Laura A. Johnson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Verismo Therapeutics. "This urgent patient need is precisely why we designed multi-chain SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR with a natural ‘on-off’ switch to potentially address chronic T cell exhaustion and increase durability.

"We are excited to report new preclinical data showing SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR improved anti-tumor activity with reduced cytokine production compared to a conventional single-chain CAR T approach. We’re also encouraged that early clinical observation of one patient in our CELESTIAL-301 trial achieved a complete tumor response that remains ongoing beyond six months. Together, these data support continued clinical evaluation of the KIR-CAR platform and SynKIR-310, specifically in patients with relapsed or refractory B cell malignancies, including follicular lymphoma."

These preclinical data were shared during poster session "Adoptive Cell Therapy 2" by Megan Blair, Ph.D., In Vivo Lead at Verismo Therapeutics, on April 21, showing multi-chain SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR had enhanced anti-tumor activity in vivo compared to tisagenlecleucel and axicabtagene ciloleucel analogs, in B-NHL xenograft mouse models, with reduced cytokine production, while maintaining comparable T cell persistence. These findings suggest a potential favorable benefit-risk profile of multi-chain KIR-CAR compared to traditional single-chain CAR T.

Early clinical data from CELESTIAL-301 were also shared, highlighting treatment of a 70-year-old male patient with follicular lymphoma who received SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR at the lowest dose level (DL1) and achieved complete tumor response 28 days later, which remains ongoing as of their most recent 6-month follow-up appointment.

The CELESTIAL-301 trial is supported in part by the Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (IFLI), a global non-profit private foundation dedicated to accelerating the development of innovative treatment options for patients with follicular lymphoma, which has committed up to $4.05 million to advance SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR development in follicular lymphoma (FL) and expand patient enrollment in the trial.

"IFLI invested in SynKIR-310 because we believe its novel KIR-CAR architecture has the potential to meaningfully change the treatment trajectory for patients with follicular lymphoma who have exhausted standard options, including prior CAR T therapy," said David McCullagh, IFLI Managing Director. "Today’s data provide an important early signal supporting the potential of this platform. We look forward to continuing to support Verismo as they advance SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR toward broader clinical development in FL, along with other B cell malignancies."

About SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR and the CELESTIAL-301 Clinical Trial

SynKIR-310 is an investigational autologous engineered cell therapy developed using Verismo’s KIR-CAR platform. This approach utilizes a multi-chain, split-signaling architecture derived from natural killer cells, designed to drive long-term anti-tumor T cell function without T cell exhaustion. By keeping antigen recognition separate from T cell activation, the multi-chain architecture is intended to sustain T cell activity to provide a more durable response compared to single-chain CAR T approaches.

CELESTIAL-301 is a Phase 1 first-in-human, multi-center, open-label, basket clinical trial, evaluating SynKIR-310 KIR-CAR in patients with relapsed/refractory B-NHL, such as FL, and including those who have or have not previously received CD19 CAR T therapies. See clinicaltrials.gov (NCT06544265) for more information.

(Press release, Verismo Therapeutics, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664638])

IDEAYA Biosciences Announces Late-Breaking Abstract Oral Presentation at ASCO 2026 to Provide Complete Data from Phase 2/3 Registrational Trial (OptimUM-02) of Darovasertib in Combination with Crizotinib in 1L HLA*A2-Negative Metastatic Uveal Melanoma

On April 21, 2026 IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDYA), a leading precision medicine oncology company, reported they have been selected for a late-breaking abstract (LBA) oral presentation to provide the complete data from the Phase 2/3 registrational trial (OptimUM-02) of darovasertib in combination with crizotinib in first-line (1L) HLA*A2-negative metastatic uveal melanoma at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, taking place on May 29-June 2 in Chicago, Illinois. The presentation will include detail and additional data from OptimUM-02 that were not disclosed with the company’s topline release.

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Presentation details

Late-Breaking Abstract Number: LBA9503

Date and Time: June 1, 2026, 8-11AM CDT, Oral Abstract Session, Melanoma/Skin Cancers

Title: Darovasertib Plus Crizotinib vs Investigator’s Choice as First-Line Treatment for Patients with HLA-A2 Negative Metastatic Uveal Melanoma: Primary Results from the OptimUM-02 trial

Presenter: Dr. Marlana Orloff, M.D., Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

(Press release, Ideaya Biosciences, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664637])