On January 5, 2026 Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, reported that Robert M. Davis, chairman and chief executive officer, and Dr. Dean Y. Li, executive vice president and president, Merck Research Laboratories, are scheduled to participate in a fireside chat at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. PST / 7:30 p.m. EST.

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Investors, analysts, members of the media and the general public are invited to listen to a live audio webcast of the presentation at this weblink.

(Press release, Merck & Co, JAN 5, 2026, View Source [SID1234661716])

On January 5, 2026 Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Kelun-Biotech" or the "Company," 6990.HK) reported that its TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT, also known as SKB264/MK-2870) (佳泰莱) in combination with MSD’s anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA[1]) was granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS)≥1% and are EGFR-negative and ALK-negative.

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Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

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BTD is granted for treatment regimens that provide effective treatment or prevention for conditions with no currently available therapy, or that demonstrate significant clinical advantages over currently available treatments. For drugs included in the breakthrough therapy process, if relevant conditions are met, applications for conditional approval and priority review and approval can be submitted when applying for marketing authorization.

Previously, the company announced that results from the Phase III clinical trial of OptiTROP-Lung05, evaluating sac-TMT in combination with pembrolizumab as first-line treatment for PD-L1-positive NSCLC, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS). A positive trend was also observed in overall survival (OS). OptiTROP-Lung05 is the first Phase III study of an immunotherapy and ADC combination to meet its primary endpoint in the first-line treatment of NSCLC. Granting of BTD for the first-line treatment of PD-L1-positive NSCLC indication offers pathways to expedite the review and potential approval process of sac-TMT for this indication.

To date, sac-TMT has received five BTDs for:

locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in July 2022;
locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutant NSCLC after progression on EGFR-TKI therapy in January 2023;
locally advanced or metastatic hormone-receptor positive (HR+) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer (BC) in patients who have previously received at least two lines of systemic chemotherapy in June 2023;
first-line treatment of unresectable locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic PD-L1 negative TNBC in March 2024;
In combination with anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody tagitanlimab for the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC without actionable genomic alterations in June 2025.
About sac-TMT

Sac-TMT, a core product of the Company, is a novel human TROP2 ADC in which the Company has proprietary intellectual property rights, targeting advanced solid tumors such as NSCLC, BC, gastric cancer (GC), gynecological tumors, among others. Sac-TMT is developed with a novel linker to conjugate the payload, a belotecan-derivative topoisomerase I inhibitor with a drug-to-antibody-ratio (DAR) of 7.4. Sac-TMT specifically recognizes TROP2 on the surface of tumor cells by recombinant anti-TROP2 humanized monoclonal antibodies, which is then endocytosed by tumor cells and releases the payload KL610023 intracellularly. KL610023, as a topoisomerase I inhibitor, induces DNA damage to tumor cells, which in turn leads to cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. In addition, it also releases KL610023 in the tumor microenvironment. Given that KL610023 is membrane permeable, it can enable a bystander effect, or in other words kill adjacent tumor cells.

In May 2022, the Company licensed the exclusive rights to MSD (the tradename of Merck & Co., Inc, Rahway, NJ, USA) to develop, use, manufacture and commercialize sac-TMT in all territories outside of Greater China (which includes Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).

To date, three indications for sac-TMT have been approved and marketed in China for: EGFR mutant-positive locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC following progression on EGFR-TKI therapy and platinum-based chemotherapy; Unresectable locally advanced or metastatic TNBC who have received at least two prior systemic therapies (at least one of them for advanced or metastatic setting); EGFR mutant-positive locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC who progressed after treatment with EGFR-TKI therapy. The first two indications listed above have been included in China’s National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL). This inclusion is expected to bring clinical benefits to a greater number of cancer patients.

Sac-TMT is the world’s first TROP2 ADC drug approved for marketing in lung cancer. In addition, the sNDA for sac-TMT for second-line and above treatment of HR+/HER2- BC was accepted by the Center for Drug Evaluation of the National Medical Products Administration, and was included in the priority review and approval process.

As of today, Kelun-Biotech has initiated 9 registrational clinical studies in China. MSD has initiated 15 ongoing Phase 3 global clinical studies of sac-TMT as a monotherapy or with pembrolizumab or other anti-cancer agents for several types of cancer. These studies are sponsored and led by MSD.

(Press release, Kelun, JAN 5, 2026, View Source [SID1234661732])

On January 5, 2026 Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NRIX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted protein degradation medicines in oncology and autoimmune diseases, reported that Arthur T. Sands, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Nurix, will present a corporate update at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday, January 12, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. PT in San Francisco.

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The presentation will be webcast live and can be accessed via a link in the Investors section of the Nurix website. The archived webcast will be available for 30 days after the event.

(Press release, Nurix Therapeutics, JAN 5, 2026, View Source [SID1234661717])

On January 5, 2026 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRA), a global leader in cell-free DNA and precision medicine, reported that new data from the ALTAIR trial will be presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI), taking place January 8-10, 2026.

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Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

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A new analysis will be presented from the randomized, double-blind, phase III ALTAIR clinical trial (NCT04457297). ALTAIR examined treatment on molecular recurrence (TOMR) with Trifluridine/Tipiracil (FTD/TPI) in Signatera-positive patients with stage I-IV colorectal cancer (CRC). This investigator-initiated analysis, based on a post-hoc blinded central radiographic review that resulted in the reclassification of a subset of cases, showed a statistically significant DFS benefit of FTD/TPI vs. placebo in all patients (median DFS 9.23 vs 5.55 months; HR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.55-0.98; P=0.0406). Importantly, these findings represent a substantial update from the previously reported overall ALTAIR analysis, which showed a numerical DFS improvement that did not reach statistical significance in the full study population.

In addition to ALTAIR, Natera’s ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GI presentations include a large-scale study on Signatera velocity as a prognostic marker for relapse risk stratification. In the study, CRC patients whose Signatera levels doubled in one month or less experienced ~40% shorter recurrence free survival (RFS) vs patients with slower doubling time. The prognostic association between the rate of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) increase and recurrence risk remained significant for patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy, as well as those who did not. This data is specific to Natera’s quantification method, which uses mean tumor molecules (MTM) per mL of plasma.

"Natera’s unmatched scale of evidence across tumor types uniquely positions the company to define ctDNA dynamics and translate them into meaningful biological insight and clinical action," said Adham Jurdi, M.D., senior medical director of GI oncology at Natera. "We believe these capabilities, including TOMR approaches, can ultimately support more precise risk stratification and cancer management."

The full list of 14 presentations at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GI includes:

January 8, 11:30 AM PT | Abstract # 440
Presenter: Sahar Forootan Sedigh
Tumor-informed ctDNA monitoring during surveillance for early detection of recurrence in patients with stage II/III esophageal cancer treated with chemoradiation

January 8, 11:30 AM PT | Abstract # 843
Presenter: Axel Grothey, M.D.
AI-assisted automated abstraction for enhanced patient insights in gastrointestinal cancers

January 8, 11:30 AM PT | Abstract # 814
Presenter: Gladys Magaly Rodriguez, M.D., MS
Characterization of DPYD variants across ancestries in a large real-world cohort of cancer patients

January 9, 11:30 AM PT | Abstract # 778
Presenter: Elishama Kanu, M.D., MA
Prognostic value of ctDNA monitoring in patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma during surveillance

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # 163
Presenter: George Q. Zhang, M.D., MPH
Physical activity and molecular residual disease (MRD) in stage III colon cancer: Findings from CALGB (Alliance)/SWOG 80702

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # 216
Presenter: Saori Mishima, M.D., Ph.D.
Assessing adjuvant chemotherapy benefit in younger and older molecular residual disease-positive patients with stage II/III colorectal cancer

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # 221
Presenter: Naoya Akazawa, M.D.
Prognostic value of presurgical circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels and other clinical factors in colon cancer

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # 220
Presenter: Koji Ando
Correlation between the timing of recurrence and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) doubling time in patients (pts) with resected colon cancer

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # 153
Presenter: Kozo Kataoka, M.D., Ph.D.
Adjuvant mFOLFOXFIRI after curative-intent resection of oligometastatic colorectal cancer: Phase II FANTASTIC trial

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # TPS268
Presenter: Anwaar Saeed, M.D.
NSABP FC-13 (EMPIRE): A phase II platform study of cemiplimab monotherapy or cemiplimab-based combinations in patients with colorectal cancer and minimal residual disease (MRD) after definitive therapy

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # 138
Presenter: Jun Watanabe, M.D., Ph.D.
Post-hoc central radiological review of the ALTAIR study in patients with molecular residual disease (MRD) following curative resection of colorectal cancer (CRC)

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # TPS245
Presenter: Sarah Sawyer, Ph.D.
Design of a hybrid site and decentralized clinical research study of an early detection blood test for colorectal cancer

January 10, 7:00 AM PT | Abstract # 217
Presenter: Yoshiaki Nakamura, M.D., Ph.D.
Quantification of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) using a methylation-based, tissue-free colorectal cancer (CRC) test for the detection of molecular residual disease (MRD)

January 10, 11:30 AM PT | Abstract # 12 (Oral Presentation)
Presenter: Hideaki Bando, M.D., Ph.D.
Impact of postoperative ctDNA dynamics on eligibility for the ALTAIR randomized trial in patients with colorectal cancer: Implications for clinical trial enrollment

(Press release, Natera, JAN 5, 2026, View Source [SID1234661733])

On January 5, 2026 Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Olema" or "Olema Oncology", Nasdaq: OLMA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of targeted therapies for breast cancer and beyond, reported that Sean P. Bohen, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, California, on Tuesday, January 13, 2025 at 11:15 a.m. PT (2:15 p.m. ET).

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A live webcast of the presentation and any accompanying materials will be available in the Events and Presentations section of Olema’s Investor Relations website at ir.olema.com. A recording of the presentation will be made available in the same location.

(Press release, Olema Oncology, JAN 5, 2026, View Source [SID1234661718])