On June 22, 2026 Boehringer Ingelheim reported it is advancing biomarker-informed approaches and extending precision care across multiple cancers and stages of disease, reinforcing its ambition to bring unprecedented impact and improve long-term outcomes where unmet need remains high. The company has initiated two Phase III clinical trials within the DAREON program: DAREON-Lung-1 in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and DAREON-NEC-1 in extrapulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma (epNEC). In parallel, the Phase III Beamion LUNG-3 trial has been initiated in HER2 (ERBB2)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
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"People living with aggressive cancers often face a shortage of treatment choices," said Lykke Hinsch Gylvin, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Boehringer Ingelheim. "With the launch of these trials, we are advancing our precision oncology ambitions to move targeted therapies into earlier treatment lines and bring biomarker-informed science into late-stage development. By focusing on the biology of each tumor, we aim to give patients facing cancer more precise treatment options with the goal of improving outcomes where the need is greatest."
Biomarker-informed approaches: DLL3
The two DAREON Phase III trials mark a pivotal step for obrixtamig, Boehringer’s investigational DLL3/CD3 T-cell engager, and for the company’s broader biomarker strategy in aggressive neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) such as SCLC and epNEC. People with SCLC, the most aggressive type of lung cancer, often face short-lived therapeutic benefit and poor survival with existing approaches.5,7 EpNEC is a historically under-researched cancer for which survival outcomes have not improved in decades. For those living with these cancers, treatment options are limited and significant unmet needs persist.1,8
Delta-like canonical Notch ligand 3 is expressed on tumor cells in SCLC and epNEC while largely absent from non-cancerous cells. This makes it a potential predictive biomarker that could help to redefine treatment strategies for these aggressive cancers.9,10 DAREON-Lung-1 and DAREON-NEC-1 are designed to test whether the addition of obrixtamig, a DLL3 targeted T-cell engager, can improve outcomes in biomarker-informed patient populations versus the current standard of care.1,2 Together, the studies aim to position obrixtamig as part of a broader shift toward more personalized and potentially more transformative treatment approaches in these aggressive NECs.
Precision oncology in earlier stages: HER2
In addition, the company is investigating zongertinib in earlier stages of disease with the initiation of Beamion LUNG-3. This global, randomized Phase III trial will study the efficacy and safety of zongertinib as adjuvant monotherapy compared with physician’s choice standard of care in patients with stage II-IIIB HER2 (ERBB2)-mutant NSCLC who have undergone complete surgical resection and have received either neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy.3 The study is designed to evaluate whether zongertinib can improve disease-free survival compared to standard of care following surgery, addressing the significant risk of recurrence after curative-intent treatment.11 Beamion LUNG-3 reflects the company’s focus on advancing targeted therapies earlier in the treatment pathway, where effective targeted adjuvant treatment options are not available.12 This trial extends the investigation of zongertinib to early stage disease.3
Expanding the oncology portfolio
Boehringer Ingelheim continues to expand its portfolio of precision oncology approaches that combine targeted therapies for biomarker-defined populations with innovative strategies to both activate and direct the immune system. This includes next-generation immunotherapies such as T-cell engagers, alongside complementary modalities that aim to enhance anti-tumor responses and address tumor-intrinsic drivers of disease. By integrating these approaches, the company aims to expand treatment options for people facing cancers with high unmet medical need.
About obrixtamig
Obrixtamig is an investigational novel Immunoglobin G (IgG)-like bispecific T-cell engager designed to bind concomitantly to DLL3 on tumor cells and CD3 on T-cells, potentially resulting in destruction of tumor cells by the body’s own immune system. Obrixtamig is being evaluated in multiple, ongoing clinical trials, including a Phase I trial in combination with atezolizumab and chemotherapy in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) patients (DAREON-8), a Phase Ib study to investigate obrixtamig in combination with the current SoC (carboplatin + etoposide) as 1L treatment for patients with DLL3-positive NEC, including epNEC (DAREON-7), and a Phase II trial in patients with relapsed/refractory DLL3-high extrapulmonary neuroendocrine carcinomas (epNEC) (DAREON-5).12,13,14 The Phase III clinical development program includes DAREON-LUNG-1, which evaluates obrixtamig in combination with atezolizumab plus chemotherapy vs. atezolizumab plus chemotherapy for first-line use in patients with ES-SCLC.1 In addition, DAREON-NEC-1 is evaluating obrixtamig in combination with current SoC (carboplatin and etoposide) vs. SoC alone as first-line therapy in patients with DLL3-positive unresectable locally advanced or metastatic epNEC.2
In order to tackle hard-to-treat cancers, Boehringer is drawing on innovation enabled through collaboration. The company is developing obrixtamig through a long-term partnership with Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT), using OBT’s OGAP platform to identify novel target opportunities for new immunotherapies harnessing its investigational T-cell engager, investigational cancer vaccine and exploratory oncolytic virus platforms.
About zongertinib
Zongertinib is an irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that selectively inhibits HER2 while sparing wild-type EGFR, thereby minimizing associated toxicities.16,17 Zongertinib is approved in the U.S., China, Hong Kong and Japan as the first once-daily orally administered targeted therapy for adult patients with HER2 (ERBB2)-mutant advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Zongertinib is not approved in other markets.
The treatment is being evaluated in ongoing trials across a range of earlier stages and advanced solid tumors with HER2 alterations. Beamion LUNG-2 is an ongoing Phase III controlled study evaluating zongertinib as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC that has HER2 tyrosine kinase domain mutations (NCT06151574).18 Beamion LUNG-3 is a Phase III clinical trial investigating zongertinib as an adjuvant monotherapy in patients with early-stage, resectable NSCLC (Stage II-IIIB) with HER2 (ERBB2)-mutations (NCT07195695).
(Press release, Boehringer Ingelheim, JUN 22, 2026, View Source [SID1234668862])