On January 9, 2026 iBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBIO), an AI-driven innovator of precision antibody therapies, reported that it has entered into a securities purchase agreement with existing healthcare-focused, high-quality institutional investors for a private placement ("PIPE") financing that is expected to result in gross proceeds of approximately $26 million to the Company before placement agent fees and offering expenses. The offering is expected to close on or about January 13, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

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The financing was led by Frazier Life Sciences and included participation from other existing investors.

iBio intends to use the net proceeds received from the offering to advance its preclinical cardiometabolic programs, including IBIO-610, IBIO-600, and the myostatin and activin A bispecific programs, through key development milestones, as well as to continue to progress its other preclinical pipeline assets, and the balance, if any, to fund iBio’s working capital requirements and for other general corporate purposes. This financing extends iBio’s cash runway into calendar 2028.

Pursuant to the terms of the securities purchase agreement, the Company is selling an aggregate of 11,061,738 shares of common stock (or pre-funded warrant in lieu thereof) at a purchase price of $2.35 per share (or $2.349 per pre-funded warrant), subject to certain beneficial ownership limitations set by each holder.

Leerink Partners acted as the lead placement agent for the offering. LifeSci Capital and Oppenheimer & Co. acted as co-placement agents.

The unregistered shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants sold in the PIPE financing described above were offered under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act") and Regulation D promulgated thereunder and, along with the shares of common stock underlying the pre-funded warrants, have not been registered under the Act or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the shares of common stock, the pre-funded warrants and the shares of common stock underlying the pre-funded warrants may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. The securities were offered only to accredited investors. Pursuant to the terms of the securities purchase agreement with the investors, the Company has agreed to file one or more registration statements with the SEC covering the resale of the unregistered shares of common stock and the shares issuable upon exercise of the unregistered pre-funded warrants.

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

(Press release, iBioPharma, JAN 9, 2026, View Source [SID1234661894])

On January 9, 2026 Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (Biocytogen, SSE: 688796; HKEX: 02315) and Acepodia (6976:TT), reported that the companies have entered into an option and license agreement designed to enable the structured evaluation of bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (BsADC) programs to further advance the development of dual-payload bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (BsAD2Cs).

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The agreement grants Acepodia an option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license from Biocytogen for two BsADC programs. Under the terms of the agreement, Biocytogen is eligible to receive an upfront option fee and, upon Acepodia’s exercise of the option, additional payments including option exercise fees, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties on future product sales. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"This new agreement builds upon our recent co-development collaboration with Acepodia, which has focused on the evaluation and selection of leading bispecific antibody and dual-payload ADC candidates," said Dr. Yuelei Shen, President and CEO of Biocytogen. "Based on the preclinical research conducted to date, we believe that the combination of Biocytogen’s RenLite platform with Acepodia’s Antibody-Dual-Drugs Conjugation (AD2C) technology offers a compelling approach for the development of next-generation dual-payload bispecific ADCs."

"This option-based framework allows us to systematically assess how dual-payload conjugation strategies can be applied to bispecific antibody formats," said Sonny Hsiao, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Acepodia. "This collaboration reflects our focus on disciplined, data-driven AD2C platform expansion."

The expanded partnership is intended to leverage complementary platform strengths to advance next-generation ADC designs with the potential to improve upon certain limitations observed in conventional ADC programs. The joint team is progressing towards candidate evaluation milestones, with advancement decisions informed by ongoing research results and Acepodia’s internal governance and option exercise criteria.

(Press release, Biocytogen, JAN 9, 2026, View Source [SID1234661911])

On January 9, 2026 Immunocore Holdings plc (Nasdaq: IMCR) ("Immunocore" or the "Company"), a commercial-stage biotechnology company pioneering and delivering transformative immunomodulating medicines to radically improve outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases, reported its strategic priorities for 2026 including its plans for reaching more patients with melanoma and other diseases with high unmet needs.

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The Company highlights the potential of its melanoma franchise building on KIMMTRAK’s performance including the completion of enrollment in TEBE-AM, the registrational late-line cutaneous melanoma trial, in the first half of this year. In addition to enrolling patients in three Phase 3 trials, the Company expects to present data from multiple Phase 1/2 trials in 2026.

"2026 will be an important year for Immunocore. We are building a leading melanoma franchise – first with KIMMTRAK, the standard of care for HLA-A*02:01-positive patients with metastatic uveal melanoma, and next in cutaneous melanoma through the TEBE-AM Phase 3 trial, which is our top priority for 2026," said Bahija Jallal, CEO of Immunocore. "We expect to complete enrollment in the first half, positioning us for data readout as early as the second half of the year. We also continue to advance our broad pipeline, with pivotal readouts in oncology and infectious diseases, and dosing of the first patient in our first autoimmune trial this year."

"We have a significant amount of data for our PRAME bispecific candidates, as monotherapy and combinations, and are enrolling patients in our first-line cutaneous melanoma Phase 3 trial," said David Berman, Head of Research & Development. "In the second half of 2026, we plan to share clinical data from both brenetafusp in ovarian and lung cancer and IMC-P115C, our PRAME half-life extended candidate, which will inform next development steps."

Key Strategic Priorities 2026

The Company has pioneered a leading scalable, off-the-shelf immunomodulating platform and will focus on the following three priorities in 2026, as it continues developing and delivering transformative treatment options to patients:

Grow KIMMTRAK (tebentafusp) and prepare for potential new melanoma indications: reaching more metastatic uveal melanoma (mUM) patients and delivering KIMMTRAK’s lifecycle management program through two ongoing registrational Phase 3 trials (TEBE-AM and ATOM). The Company is also enrolling a third registrational trial, PRISM-MEL-301, evaluating brenetafusp in first-line melanoma.
Expand beyond melanoma into other tumor types: in 2026, the Company anticipates having multiple Phase 1 readouts with its PRAME bispecific candidates – brenetafusp and IMC-P115C (PRAME-A02-HLE) – across multiple tumor types, including ovarian and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in combination with multiple therapies. This data will inform next steps. The Company is also enrolling patients in a Phase 1 dose escalation trial, including combinations, in colorectal cancer with IMC-R117C (PIWIL1-A02).
Realize growth opportunities beyond oncology: in 2025, the Company showed important proof of concept data for its infectious disease platform and continues to dose escalate and monitor the viral rebound kinetics in the Phase 1 trial in people living with HIV. The Company is also advancing its two autoimmune disease candidates towards the clinic: initiation of the Phase 1 trial for IMC-S118AI (PPI x PD1), and submission of a clinical trial application for IMC-U120AI (CD1a x PD1).

Upcoming Expected Catalysts

KIMMTRAK

2026: Entering its fifth year post-approval; expect moderating revenue growth driven by continued increase in US community centers and global penetration
First half of 2026: Long-term 5-year Overall Survival (OS) data from Phase 3 tebentafusp trial in mUM
Second half of 2026: Additional real-world evidence data from KIMMTRAK in mUM
Tebentafusp

First half of 2026: Complete enrollment of Phase 3 registrational trial in previously treated cutaneous melanoma (TEBE-AM), with topline readout as early as 2H 2026
Continue enrollment of Phase 3 registrational adjuvant uveal melanoma trial (ATOM); led by the EORTC
PRAME programs

Second half of 2026: Present data from Phase 1/2 brenetafusp combinations in ovarian, including platinum sensitive ovarian cancer
Second half of 2026: Present data from Phase 1/2 brenetafusp monotherapy and combinations in NSCLC
Second half of 2026: Present initial data from Phase 1 trial with IMC-P115C (PRAME-A02-HLE) in multiple solid tumors
Continue enrollment in Phase 3 brenetafusp combination trial in 1L cutaneous melanoma (PRISM-MEL-301)
PIWIL1

2027: Present initial data from Phase 1 dose escalation in colorectal cancer

Infectious Diseases

Second half of 2026: Present additional data from Phase 1 HIV trial

Autoimmune Diseases

First half of 2026: Dose first patient in Phase 1 trial in type 1 diabetes with IMC-S118AI
Second half of 2026: File clinical trial application/Investigational New Drug application for a Phase 1 trial in atopic dermatitis with IMC-U120AI
Preliminary Year-End 2025 cash position

Preliminary unaudited cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were approximately $864 million as of December 31, 2025. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company paid sales-related rebate accruals. Immunocore will report its final and complete fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results in late February 2026, and the actual results could be different from these preliminary unaudited financial results.

44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

The Company has updated its corporate presentation to reflect its business and strategic updates. The Immunocore management team will discuss these updates during a live and webcast presentation at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at 8:15 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). The presentation and webcast will be available in the ‘Investors’ section of Immunocore’s website at www.immunocore.com. A replay of the presentation will be made available for a limited time.

(Press release, Immunocore, JAN 9, 2026, View Source [SID1234661895])

On January 9, 2026 Averna Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel genomic medicines based on gene insertion technology, reported that Tom Barnes, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, will present at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 10:00 AM PT in San Francisco.

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(Press release, Averna Therapeutics, JAN 9, 2026, View Source [SID1234661912])

On January 9, 2026 Transgene (Euronext Paris: TNG), a biotech company that designs and develops virus-based immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, reported the preprint publication on medRxiv of a comprehensive analysis of both the clinical and translational data from the Phase I part of its randomized Phase I/II trial of TG4050, an individualized neoantigen therapeutic vaccine (INTV).

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The manuscript is now available on medRxiv – a preprint platform that enables early scientific visibility by sharing research ahead of journal peer review.

In parallel, the article has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and is currently under evaluation.

TG4050: an individualized therapeutic cancer vaccine shows 100% two-year disease-free survival as monotherapy in the adjuvant treatment of operable head and neck cancers

Despite the availability of current treatments, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, about one-third of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) experience recurrence within two years after surgery. Transgene’s trial with TG4050 was designed to assess whether inducing neoantigen-specific T-cell responses following treatment with an INTV encoding up to 30 predicted tumor neoantigens delivered via a Modified Ankara Virus (MVA) vector could help reduce the risk of relapse.

Half of the participants received TG4050 immediately after completing primary adjuvant treatment, while the other half were administered the vaccine at the time of disease recurrence, as an additional therapy alongside the standard of care.

With 100% disease-free survival at two years, the data suggest that individualized treatment with TG4050 does have the potential to prevent cancer relapses when administered as monotherapy in an adjuvant treatment regimen in patients with high risk, resected, locally advanced HPV-negative HNSCC. In addition, TG4050 was well-tolerated and showed no unexpected safety signals.

Detailed translational findings from patients treated with TG4050 confirm durable, neoantigen-specific T-cell responses

The translational data show that TG4050 induced neoantigen-specific T cell responses in the majority of treated patients (73% of 15 evaluable patients). These responses were durable, with cytotoxic and effector phenotype markers expressed up to one year after the end of treatment.

An overview of these data were first presented at the 2025 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (see press release) and support TG4050’s ability to induce neoantigen-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses capable of targeting and eliminating tumor cells, thereby contributing to the prevention of cancer relapse, when used as monotherapy in patients with HNSCC.

TG4050 is currently under further evaluation in a randomized Phase I/II clinical trial (NCT04183166), in patients with HNSCC.

"The publication of TG4050’s Phase I results on medRxiv is an important step for Transgene. Making these data available to the global scientific community underscores our commitment to transparency and scientific rigor. The findings show encouraging evidence of TG4050’s ability to induce durable, neoantigen-specific immune responses and its potential in preventing relapse in patients with HPV-negative operable head and neck cancer. We look forward to advancing TG4050 through Phase II with the same determination and patient-centered approach" said Katell Bidet-Huang, Head of translational medicine at Transgene.

The preprint on medRxiv provides early access to these important clinical findings ahead of peer-reviewed journal publication.

Title: "Viral-based individualized neoantigen vaccine as adjuvant treatment in resected head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: immunogenicity and efficacy from a randomized Phase I trial"

(Press release, Transgene, JAN 9, 2026, View Source [SID1234661862])