OncoHost to Present New Research on Proteomic Aging Biomarkers Outcomes at AACR 2026

On April 15, 2026 OncoHost, a technology company transforming precision oncology through proteomics-based biomarker development, reported its acceptance to present a scientific poster at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2026, taking place April 17–22, 2026, in San Diego, CA.

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The abstract, titled "Proteomic aging biomarkers predict survival in immunotherapy-treated tumors," explores the application of plasma proteomics to quantify biological aging and its clinical implications across multiple cancer types. By leveraging organismal and organ-specific proteomic aging models, the study evaluates how aging-related biological processes correlate with tumor characteristics, patient characteristics, and treatment outcomes.

"This research expands our understanding of how systemic and organ-specific aging processes influence cancer biology and response to immunotherapy," said Michal Harel, Ph.D., VP Translational Medicine at OncoHost and lead author of the study. "By capturing both systemic biological aging and organ-specific aging across multiple tissues, we are uncovering clinically relevant signals that go beyond traditional biomarkers and may help refine patient stratification."

The study analyzed deep plasma proteomic profiles from patients with metastatic solid tumors, including NSCLC, SCLC, renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and melanoma, alongside healthy controls. Results demonstrated that cancer patients exhibit significantly elevated biological age compared to healthy individuals, with lung age gap highest in NSCLC and SCLC, and kidney age gap most significant in RCC. In addition, organ-specific aging patterns were associated with relevant comorbidities, reinforcing the systemic nature of cancer-related aging.

Furthermore, the findings highlight the prognostic value of immune-specific aging for benefit from immunotherapy. Among patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, those with a high immune age gap had significantly shorter overall survival compared to those with a low immune age gap (median OS: 16.4 vs. 31.8 months; HR=0.67, p<0.0001 The effect varied by indication, with the strongest signal observed in melanoma (HR = 0.27, p = 0.0007) and no effect in SCLC (HR = 0.87, p = 0.65), potentially reflecting differences in tumor immunogenicity.

"Being selected to present at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) highlights the power of moving beyond tumor-centric thinking," said Ofer Sharon, MD, CEO of OncoHost. "By quantifying biological aging across the body, and specifically the immune system, we are uncovering a new layer of insight into cancer progression and treatment response – one that has the potential to transform how we guide immunotherapy, ultimately enabling more informed treatment decisions and improved patient outcomes."

Poster Presentation Details
Title: Proteomic aging biomarkers predict survival in immunotherapy-treated tumors
Session Title: Biomarkers Predictive of Therapeutic Benefit 3
Poster Board #: 22
Presenters: Michal Harel, PhD, VP Translational Medicine, OncoHost & Adam Dicker, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, OncoHost
Date & Time: Monday, April 20, 2026, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT

The abstract is available on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) website here.

(Press release, OncoHost, APR 15, 2026, View Source [SID1234664410])

Tango Therapeutics Announces Leadership Appointments to Accelerate Late-Stage Development of Vopimetostat

On April 15, 2026 Tango Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNGX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to discovering and delivering the next generation of precision cancer medicines, reported key leadership appointments, adding three seasoned industry executives to the Company to support the rapid advancement of vopimetostat, a highly potent and selective PRMT5 inhibitor, towards its first potential regulatory approval in pancreatic cancer. Matthew Gall has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, Yen-Ching Chua as Chief Development Operations Officer, and Janice Kapty, PhD as SVP, Corporate Strategy and Project Leadership.

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"Building on our longstanding scientific leadership and recent clinical progress, Tango has a unique opportunity with vopimetostat to bring a potentially paradigm-shifting treatment to patients with pancreatic and other cancers," said Malte Peters, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer. "In order to support our goal and drive Tango’s next phase of growth, we have strengthened our development, corporate strategy and finance leadership to accelerate and support our efforts in late-stage development and potential commercialization. I extend my gratitude to our prior Chief Financial Officer, Daniella Beckman, for her many contributions to Tango since its inception, including taking the Company public and leading multiple capital raises. We wish her well in future endeavors. We look forward to presenting key clinical data this year, including initial data from our combination trial with Revolution Medicines, Inc.’s RAS(ON) inhibitors."

Matthew Gall has been appointed Chief Financial Officer effective April 15, succeeding Daniella Beckman. Mr. Gall is a seasoned biotechnology executive with extensive finance, corporate development, strategic transaction and capital raising experience. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer at Kalaris Therapeutics and iTeos Therapeutics, and held finance, business development and corporate strategy roles at Sarepta Therapeutics, Celgene Corporation and Gilead Sciences.

Yen-Ching Chua has been appointed Chief Development Operations Officer effective June 1, overseeing clinical operations including data management, as well as quality, clinical compliance and clinical sourcing. She brings deep global experience, having previously led clinical and development operations across complex global portfolios at Novocure, Debiopharm International, MorphoSys and Novartis.

In addition, Janice Kapty, PhD has been appointed SVP, Corporate Strategy and Project Leadership, effective April 15. In this role, she will be responsible for portfolio strategy, oversee the project management organization, and ensure strong project leadership for vopimetostat and portfolio therapies, including TNG456. Previously, Dr. Kapty led drug development teams at Arvinas, MorphoSys, Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Bristol Myers Squibb and Celgene Corporation.

(Press release, Tango Therapeutics, APR 15, 2026, View Source [SID1234664426])

Verismo Therapeutics Announces $28 Million Investment from HLB Innovation to Accelerate KIR-CAR Clinical Development

On April 15, 2026 Verismo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage CAR T cell therapy company pioneering a novel multi-chain KIR-CAR platform technology, reported a $28 million investment from its parent company, HLB Innovation (KOSDAQ: 024850). The investment comes ahead of a significant clinical milestone: the first-ever presentation of KIR-CAR clinical data, which will be featured in the Late-Breaking Clinical Trials plenary session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego, CA, on April 20, 2026.

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The funding will support ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials of Verismo’s two KIR-CAR programs currently in the clinic: SynKIR-110 in patients with advanced mesothelin-expressing solid tumors (STAR-101, NCT05568680) and SynKIR-310 in patients with relapsed/refractory B cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (CELESTIAL-301, NCT06544265).

Selection for an AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Late-Breaking Clinical Trials plenary session is among the most prestigious distinctions in oncology research. The upcoming STAR-101 presentation marks Verismo’s first-ever presentation of clinical data on a KIR-CAR candidate.

"This investment from HLB Innovation comes at a pivotal moment for Verismo and for the KIR-CAR platform," said Bryan Kim, CEO and Co-Founder of Verismo Therapeutics. "This funding ensures we have the resources to fully capitalize on that momentum — advancing our solid tumor and blood cancer programs toward the data readouts that will define the potential for multi-chain KIR-CAR cell therapy to provide durable results over current single-chain CAR Ts."

The following data readouts will be presented at the upcoming AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2026, reflecting the breadth of Verismo’s novel KIR-CAR platform:

Late-Breaking Clinical Trials Plenary Session — April 20, 2026: Initial results of a first-in-human dose-escalation study of KIR-CAR in patients with advanced mesothelin-expressing solid tumors
Poster Presentation — April 21, 2026: Novel SynKIR-310 outperforms CD3-based second-generation CD28 or 41BB co-stimulated CAR T in B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma xenograft mice and shows early clinical signal
Late-Breaking Poster Presentation — April 20, 2026: Natural killer cell-based signaling in EGFR-targeted KIR-CAR T overcomes CD3-based CAR T functional deficits to eliminate resistant glioblastomas in vivo

(Press release, Verismo Therapeutics, APR 15, 2026, View Source [SID1234664411])

Callio Therapeutics to Present Poster on CLIO-8221, a Novel Dual-Payload Antibody-Drug Conjugate, at AACR 2026

On April 15, 2026 Callio Therapeutics, a biotherapeutics company advancing dual-payload antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with a targeted, multi-mechanism approach to cancer treatment, reported a poster presentation on CLIO-8221 at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2026 (April 17-22, San Diego). CLIO-8221, currently being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 1 trial, is a first-in-class dual-payload ADC, engineered for targeted delivery of two payload classes, a topoisomerase 1 (Topo1) inhibitor and an ATR inhibitor, to HER2-expressing tumors.

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"CLIO-8221 is the first program from Callio’s dual-payload ADC pipeline to enter the clinic, just one year after our launch, underscoring our commitment to advancing innovative dual-payload ADCs for cancer. By combining two complementary anti-cancer payloads, CLIO-8221 may offer a new treatment option for patients whose cancers are resistant to existing single-payload Topo1 inhibitor-based ADCs," said Jerome Boyd-Kirkup, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Callio Therapeutics. "Our preclinical studies support the high potency and enhanced tolerability of CLIO-8221, enabled by our next generation linker platform and ADC technologies, and we look forward to presenting these data at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)."

At AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2026, Callio Therapeutics will present data that highlight the potential of CLIO-8221 as a therapeutic option for HER2-expressing cancers:

CLIO-8221 is a dual-payload ADC carrying a Topo1 inhibitor and an ATR inhibitor (DAR 4:4 ratio), selected to maximize anti-tumor efficacy and overcome Topo1 inhibitor resistance
CLIO-8221 uses proprietary linker and ADC technologies to reduce systemic toxicity and enable co-delivery of both payloads to drive strong tumor cell killing
CLIO-8221 demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity across varying HER2 expression levels and drove tumor regression after a single dose in both trastuzumab deruxtecan-sensitive and -insensitive models
CLIO-8221 has a broad therapeutic window with no toxicological findings observed at doses up to 70 mg/kg in NHP studies
Poster Presentation:

Title: Development of CLIO-8221: A HER2-targeted dual-payload ADC to address ADC resistance
Session Title: Session PO.ET02.03 – Antibody-Drug Conjugates and Linker Engineering 3
Date & Time: April 21, 2026, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT
Location: Poster Section 12
Poster Board Number: 5
Poster Number: 4427

A Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT07300943) for CLIO-8221 is ongoing in Australia and the United States, with Callio Therapeutics having received IND clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2026. The IND is also under review by the China National Medical Products Administration, and the trial is expected to expand to multiple sites in China.

About CLIO-8221

HER2 is a clinically validated target for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), with multiple approved therapies demonstrating meaningful benefit across tumor types, however, most patients eventually progress on treatment despite retaining HER2 expression. Mechanistic resistance to cytotoxic payloads has emerged as a key reason for treatment failure. CLIO-8221 is a novel, first-in-class dual-payload ADC targeting HER2, designed to address this challenge.

CLIO-8221 delivers two mechanistically complementary payloads, a topoisomerase 1 (Topo1) inhibitor and an ATR inhibitor, directly to HER2-expressing tumors. While Topo1 inhibitors have shown strong clinical activity, activation of the DNA damage response following Topo1 inhibitor-induced replication stress represents a potential major driver of resistance. By simultaneously inhibiting Topo1 and blocking the DNA damage response through ATR inhibition, CLIO-8221 is engineered to overcome payload insensitivity and sensitize tumors to Topo1 inhibition. Developed using proprietary linker and ADC platform technologies, CLIO-8221 aims to maximize anti-tumor activity while reducing systemic toxicity, offering the potential for deeper and more durable responses in patients who have progressed on existing HER2-targeted therapies.

(Press release, Callio Therapeutics, APR 15, 2026, View Source [SID1234664427])

Wobble Genomics to Present Novel mRNA Sequencing Research at AACR 2026

On April 15, 2026 Wobble Genomics reported it will present new data at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2026, highlighting its approach to sequencing full-length mRNA from blood to support antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapy selection in breast cancer.

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Poster: Sequencing Full-Length mRNA in Whole Blood of Breast Cancer Patients for ADC Therapy Selection
Session: Liquid Biopsies: Circulating Nucleic Acids 3
Date: April 20, 2026 | 2:00–5:00 PM
Location: Poster Section 45 | Board #4 | Poster #3843

This research demonstrates the potential of liquid biopsy to enable more precise, non-invasive treatment selection, helping match patients to the most effective therapies while reducing reliance on invasive tissue biopsies.

"This work represents an important step toward making precision oncology more accessible and actionable through blood-based testing," said Richard Kuo, CEO of Wobble Genomics. "By capturing full-length mRNA directly from blood, we can generate richer biological insights to better inform therapy selection, particularly for complex treatments such as antibody-drug conjugates."

Wobble Genomics welcomes engagement with researchers, clinicians, and partners working at the forefront of translational science and therapeutic development during the conference.

(Press release, Wobble Genomics, APR 15, 2026, View Source [SID1234664412])