Imugene’s azer-cel CAR-T naïve data presented at ASCO 2026 Annual Meeting

On June 1, 2026 Imugene Limited (ASX:IMU), a clinical-stage immunooncology company, reported that azer-cel (azercabtagene zapreleucel) Phase 1b clinical data has been presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

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The data was presented by Dr Supriya Gupta, University of Minnesota in the Oral Abstract Session Hematologic Malignancies: Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, on 29 May 2026 at 1:00 PM CDT.

ASCO is the world’s leading oncology conference, with more than 40,000 oncology professionals, researchers, and investors attending globally each year. Of more than 8,500 abstracts submitted for consideration at the 2026 Annual Meeting, only a small proportion were selected for oral presentation which is a distinction awarded by ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper)’s peer reviewed Scientific Program Committee on the basis of clinical significance and scientific quality. Oral selection places azer-cel among the most significant data readouts of the conference.

As demonstrated by the data presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) on 29 May, 2026; 25 patients in the CAR-T naive cohort with relapsed or refractory blood cancers received azer-cel in combination with low-dose IL-2, and 24 were evaluable for response following their first disease assessment at Day 28. Among these 24 patients, responses were observed across all six cancer subtypes, including:

• DLBCL: 67% response rate
• MZL: 83% response rate
• CLL: 100% response rate
• PCNSL: 50% response rate
• FL: 100% response rate
• WM: 100% response rate

Leslie Chong, Managing Director and CEO of Imugene, said: "The level of interest and depth of questioning from clinicians and researchers at our oral presentation at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) was genuinely encouraging. These are some of the most rigorous scientific minds in oncology, and the engagement we saw reflects growing recognition of azer-cel and its potential to offer patients further treatment options. We look forward to providing further updates as the data matures."

The ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Presentation is available at imugene.com/investors/conferencepresentations.

The Phase 1b azer-cel clinical trial is a multi-cohort study evaluating patients with relapsed or refractory CD19-positive B-cell malignancies (blood cancers), including both CAR-T naïve and CAR-T relapsed/refractory cohorts. The study has recently expanded into Cohort 3, which evaluates azer-cel in concurrent dosing with Bruton Tyrosine Kinase inhibitors (BTKi). The first patient in this cohort was dosed on 28 May 2026.

The trial is active across ten US sites and five Australian sites.

(Press release, Imugene, JUN 1, 2026, View Source [SID1234666259])

Alpha Tau Announces Strong Overall Survival Results from Alpha DaRT® Pancreatic Cancer Studies Presented at 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting

On June 1, 2026 Alpha Tau Medical Ltd. (Nasdaq: DRTS, DRTSW) ("Alpha Tau", or the "Company"), the developer of the innovative alpha-radiation cancer therapy Alpha DaRT, reported positive overall survival and safety results from a pooled analysis of three prospective Phase I/II clinical studies evaluating endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided intratumoral Alpha DaRT treatment in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The results were presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.

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Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal of all solid tumors, with a five-year survival rate of less than 10% and survival often measured in only months for patients with advanced disease. Treatment options are particularly limited for patients who are ineligible for chemotherapy or who have progressed through one or more lines of systemic therapy, where historical survival is consistently poor and few effective interventions exist.

The pooled, ad-hoc analysis combined safety and efficacy data from three studies, conducted at the Jewish General Hospital, at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) in Montreal, Canada, and at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. The analysis included all patients who received the intended Alpha DaRT treatment, with a range of patients having undergone varying lines of prior chemotherapy. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and assessed by disease stage (locally advanced versus metastatic) and by number of prior chemotherapy lines (zero, one, or two).

Overall Survival Results

Note: Caution should be exercised in comparing results from unrelated clinical studies due to differences in study designs, patient populations and other relevant factors.

Alpha DaRT-treated patients who had received one prior line of chemotherapy achieved a median overall survival of 17.0 months in metastatic disease and 13.8 months in locally advanced disease, from the date of initiation of the prior line of chemotherapy. Alpha DaRT as second-line therapy, measured from study enrollment, achieved an mOS of 11.2 months in metastatic patients, while in the published literature, mOS for metastatic patients with second-line chemotherapy is reported to be ~ 4-6 months (from initiation of second-line chemotherapy), and for the locally advanced patients, achieved an mOS of 11.1 months, vs. ~9 months.

Alpha DaRT-treated patients who had received two prior lines of chemotherapy – a heavily pretreated population for whom there is no established standard of care – achieved a median overall survival of 17.1 months in locally advanced disease and 11.3 months in metastatic disease, from the date of initiation of the second-line chemotherapy. Alpha DaRT as third-line therapy, measured from study enrollment, achieved an mOS of 7.9 months in metastatic patients, and for the locally advanced patients, achieved an mOS of 8.8 months, while in the published literature, mOS for patients with third-line chemotherapy is reported to be ~ 4-7 months (from the initiation of third-line chemotherapy).

Patients who were treated with Alpha DaRT and who had not received any prior chemotherapy demonstrated mOS of 7.1 months from diagnosis in both locally advanced and metastatic diseases, which includes mOS of 6.3 and 5.8 months, from trial enrollment, for locally advanced and metastatic patients, respectively.

Safety Results

Alpha DaRT was observed to have a favorable safety profile. Treatment-associated adverse events were observed in 36% of subjects, and Grade ≥ 3 adverse events were observed in 9% of subjects, including biliary obstruction, abdominal pain, fever, liver enzyme imbalance, and bacteremia. Importantly, there were no treatment-related deaths, all Grade ≥ 3 adverse events resolved, and no chronic adverse events were observed. This safety profile is especially relevant in advanced pancreatic cancer, where patients are often frail and where the cumulative toxicity of ongoing systemic therapy can significantly compromise quality of life.

A key differentiator of Alpha DaRT is its potential as a one-time, minimally invasive intratumoral administration, as compared to continuous oral or intravenous therapy.

Uzi Sofer, CEO of Alpha Tau, stated: "I have always believed deeply in the potential of Alpha DaRT to be highly efficacious, but I say proudly that these results exceeded even my own expectations, and are an outstanding extension of the interim results in these first-in-human trials that we observed last year. To see this level of survival, achieved with a one-time treatment and without chronic side effects, in patients who today have so little to turn to, strengthens our resolve to bring Alpha DaRT to as many of these patients as possible, as quickly as we responsibly can. These first-in-human results are fantastic, and they demonstrate the potential of Alpha DaRT as a monotherapy, even when compared to standard-of-care chemotherapies. And now we are even more excited about the treatment design of our U.S. IMPACT trial. In treating pancreatic cancer, our goal is not to replace chemotherapy or other next-generation systemic therapies, our goal is to explore whether Alpha DaRT can serve as a compelling focused local therapy and add a concurrent therapeutic boost without exacerbating the harsh systemic side effects of standard chemotherapy regimens. We are excited about the advent of new systemic therapy options for pancreatic cancer patients, and given the safety profile observed thus far for Alpha DaRT, we believe there is compelling rationale for exploring further combination trials in the future with new systemic therapies as they become standard-of-care. Pancreatic cancer is one of the cruelest diagnoses, and these patients deserve therapies that deliver not only meaningful efficacy, but also a safety profile and treatment experience that respect their quality of life and fit into their journey rather than dominate it."

Corey Miller, MD, MSc, Director of Therapeutic Endoscopy of the Division of Gastroenterology at the Jewish General Hospital, Assistant Professor of Medicine at McGill University, and Principal Investigator in Canada, commented: "As the first physician in the world to deliver Alpha DaRT into the pancreas using an endoscopic ultrasound-guided approach, seeing these results is genuinely extraordinary for me. I treated some of the very first patients in this program, and that trajectory, from the early procedures all the way through to receiving the survival outcome data with no observed chronic toxicity, has been truly fantastic to witness and a privilege to be a part of."

Robert Den, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Alpha Tau, added: "These pooled survival and safety data provide extremely encouraging reinforcement of our clinical strategy which we are moving decisively to execute across a broad and increasingly global clinical program. Historically, local therapy has not played a big role in treating non-resectable pancreatic cancer due to poor clinical trial results secondary to limitations on dose escalation in the pancreas in light of the sensitive organs in the area, as well as the inability to dose chemotherapy at systemic therapy levels concurrently with local therapy. We seek to make local therapy an integral part of the treatment of pancreatic cancer, without compromising the ability to deliver systemic therapy concurrently. Our flagship multicenter IMPACT trial in the United States continues to advance, evaluating Alpha DaRT in combination with chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed unresectable pancreatic cancer. The ACAPELLA trial in France, evaluating Alpha DaRT alongside capecitabine in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, is underway following the treatment of its first patient. And our work at the prestigious University of Verona’s Pancreas Institute is extending the program to include a percutaneous delivery approach, broadening the range of patients who may be able to access this therapy. Together, these studies reflect a deliberate, methodical effort to generate the rigorous evidence needed to bring Alpha DaRT to patients with one of the most significant unmet needs in oncology."

About the Studies

The analysis presented is a pooled ad-hoc analysis of three prospective Phase I/II clinical studies conducted at centers in Canada and Israel, evaluating EUS-guided intratumoral Alpha DaRT in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma across varying lines of prior chemotherapy. The analysis included all cases that received the intended treatment. Survival analyses used the Kaplan-Meier method, measured from the time of enrollment or from the initiation of the previous line of chemotherapy, to death, and were analyzed by disease stage and number of prior chemotherapy lines (zero, one, or two).

About Alpha DaRT

Alpha DaRT (Diffusing Alpha-emitters Radiation Therapy) is designed to enable highly potent and conformal alpha-irradiation of solid tumors by intratumoral delivery of radium-224 impregnated sources. When the radium decays, its short-lived daughters are released from the sources and disperse while emitting high-energy alpha particles with the goal of destroying the tumor. Since the alpha-emitting atoms diffuse only a short distance, Alpha DaRT aims to mainly affect the tumor, and to spare the healthy tissue around it.

(Press release, Alpha Tau Medical, JUN 1, 2026, View Source [SID1234666294])

Karyopharm to Host Investor Conference Call Featuring Expert Perspectives on the Phase 3 SENTRY Trial in Myelofibrosis Following 2026 ASCO Presentation

On June 1, 2026 Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: KPTI), a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company pioneering novel cancer therapies, reported that it will host a conference call on June 2, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. ET featuring the Company’s senior management team and Dr. John Mascarenhas, Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of the Center of Excellence for Blood Cancers and Myeloid Disorders, and principal investigator of the Phase 3 SENTRY trial. The call will discuss the results from the Phase 3 SENTRY trial of selinexor plus ruxolitinib in myelofibrosis and will follow Dr. Mascarenhas’ oral presentation of the results at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.

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To access the conference call, please dial (800) 836-8184 (local) or (646) 357-8785 (international) at least 10 minutes prior to the start time and ask to be joined into the Karyopharm Therapeutics call. A live audio webcast of the call, along with accompanying slides, will be available under "Events & Presentations" in the Investor section of the Company’s website, View Source An archived webcast will be available on the Company’s website approximately two hours after the event.

(Press release, Karyopharm, JUN 1, 2026, View Source [SID1234666310])

Ranok Therapeutics Announces Positive Interim Phase 1 Data Of Its KRAS G12D Inhibitor RNK08954 In Patients With KRAS G12D-Mutated Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Presented At ASCO 2026

On June 1, 2026 Ranok Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative therapies, reported positive interim Phase 1 clinical data for RNK08954, an investigational oral, selective KRAS G12D inhibitor. The results were featured in an Oral Presentation at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting. The multicenter Phase 1 study (NCT06667544) evaluated RNK08954 in heavily pre-treated patients with KRAS G12D-mutated solid tumors in China.

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Based on comprehensive assessment of safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and anti-tumor activity, a dose of 1200 mg once daily (QD) was selected as the Recommended Phase 2 Dose (RP2D).

In the cohort of patients (N=47) with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), RNK08954 demonstrated enhanced anti-tumor activity. In the overall evaluable NSCLC population across all tested doses (400–1200 mg, QD), the Objective Response Rate (ORR) was 42.6% (95% confidence interval (CI), 28.3%–57.8%), alongside a Disease Control Rate (DCR) of 95.7% (95% CI, 85.5%–99.5%).

Clinical activity was further enhanced at the RP2D of 1200 mg QD. Patients with only one prior line of therapy achieved an ORR of 45.0% (95% CI, 23.1%–68.5%), and DCR of 95.0% (95% CI, 75.1%–99.9%). Notably, patients who were taxane-naïve achieved the highest response rate in the study, with ORR of 50.0% (95% CI, 26.0%–74.0%) and DCR of 94.4% (95% CI, 72.7%–99.9%), demonstrating the potent antitumor activity of RNK08954. Longitudinal follow-up demonstrated durable clinical benefit. Progression-free survival (PFS) data for the optimized 1200 mg QD cohort remain immature and continue to mature. In the pooled lower-dose cohorts (400–1000 mg QD), RNK08954 achieved a median PFS of 7.6 months (95% CI, 2.8–NR). Robust molecular responses were evidenced by circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) kinetics, corroborating the radiologic responses. Among the evaluable patients, 83.3% achieved a critical biological threshold of ≥50% variant allele frequency (VAF) clearance of the mutant KRAS G12D clone. Crucially, 44.4% of patients achieved complete molecular clearance of the driver mutation, providing strong biological validation of RNK08954 potent target engagement and mechanism of action.

Professor Zhengbo Song, MD, PhD, Lead Investigator, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital commented "These interim data are highly encouraging for patients with advanced KRAS G12D-mutated NSCLC who currently face limited treatment options. Achieving a 50.0% response rate specifically in taxane-naïve patients at the 1200 mg RP2D provides a strong scientific rationale for moving RNK08954 into earlier lines of therapy, before the introduction of traditional chemotherapy. Combined with a favorable, manageable safety profile, RNK08954 demonstrates the potential to significantly shift how we sequence treatments for these patients."

"The clinical activity and tolerability observed at the 1200 mg QD dose level confirm that RNK08954 is a highly competitive agent in the KRAS G12D landscape. The robust responses in taxane-naïve patients strongly support our strategy to explore RNK08954 in earlier treatment lines." said Iman El-Hariry, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, Ranok Therapeutics. "Our immediate focus is on swift clinical execution to fully characterize this monotherapy profile in broader NSCLC populations while systematically exploring RNK08954’s potential in rational combination regimens."

"The clinical results demonstrated by RNK08954 at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) represent a significant corporate milestone for Ranok Therapeutics, establishing a well-tolerated, active oral profile at the RP2D." commented Weiwen Ying, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Ranok Therapeutics. "This strong data package provides us with excellent strategic flexibility as we evaluate corporate development opportunities to accelerate our clinical programs. These results also offer a powerful validation of our internal discovery platform, giving us high confidence as we advance our broader multi-asset KRAS franchise spanning G12D, G12C, and beyond."

About RNK08954

RNK08954 is a highly selective, oral KRAS G12D inhibitor with unique pharmacokinetic properties designed for deep, sustained target inhibition. It is currently being investigated as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy and/or other targeted agents in NSCLC, PDAC, and additional solid tumor indications.

(Press release, Ranok Therapeutics, JUN 1, 2026, View Source [SID1234666326])

Waypoint Bio Raises $20M Series A Led by Amplify Partners to Advance AI-Designed Cell Therapies Toward the Clinic

On June 1, 2026 Waypoint Bio, an AI-native biotech company using spatial biology to design next-generation CAR T therapies for solid tumors, reported that it closed a $20M Series A financing round.

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The financing was led by Amplify Partners and Elliot Hershberg will join the board of directors. General Catalyst, Time BioVentures, Mitsui Global Investments, and Lux Capital participated in the round, alongside existing investors including Hummingbird Ventures.

The Series A will fund advancement of Waypoint’s WAY-103 program into an investigator-initiated trial beginning in late 2026. Additionally, Waypoint will expand its AI and spatial biology platform and the buildout of its clinical development capabilities. Dr. Patrick Kaifosh, previously co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the neuro-AI startup CTRL-Labs and Senior Director at Meta’s Reality Labs, has joined as CTO, strengthening Waypoint’s leadership in AI and automation. Dr. Kristen Hege, formerly Senior Vice President, Early Clinical Development, Hematology/Oncology & Cell Therapy at Bristol-Myers Squibb, has joined the Scientific Advisory Board.

Waypoint Bio is developing next-generation in vivo CAR T therapeutics using a platform that integrates AI, computer vision, and spatial pooled screening. WAY-103, its lead program for gastric & pancreatic solid tumors, demonstrates greater than 15-fold improved potency in animal models compared to multiple clinical benchmarks, alongside reduced on-target/off-tumor toxicity. The construct was discovered and optimized through pooled head-to-head screens with spatially resolved readouts measuring how each candidate interacts with the tumor microenvironment. This creates a rich data layer for identifying first-in-class and best-in-class programs before committing to costly clinical development, while also generating the feedback needed to improve the next generation of AI models.

Waypoint is pairing its discovery engine with a clinical development strategy designed to rapidly validate their programs in clinical studies. "AI is incredibly powerful at exploring complicated search spaces, but predictions are easy, actual rigorous validation is limiting. What matters now is knowing which ideas translate to human biology and clinical success," said Xinchen Wang, co-founder and CEO of Waypoint Bio. "We built Waypoint to design therapeutic candidates with AI, evaluate them with spatially informed screening, and advance multiple of the strongest programs rapidly into the clinic. Our goal is not to produce more preclinical hits that look good in mice. It’s to also leverage capital efficient first-in-human studies to produce differentiated medicines that can lead their categories."

"Spatial biology has really picked up over the past few years because you can finally measure how your therapeutic candidates affect different local environments and cell-cell interactions," said David Phizicky, co-founder and CSO of Waypoint Bio. "This is critical for most complex diseases and especially solid tumors, where immunosuppressive signaling and infiltration barriers can’t be captured by simple readouts like tumor size – and we have a way to screen at-scale for these spatial phenotypes. We’re solving not only for the T cell biology, but also interactions within the tumor microenvironment, and how the in vivo delivery vector affects all of this."

Waypoint is also advancing their WAY-200 for colorectal cancer into the clinic with this round of funding, alongside preclinical development of a deeper pipeline of in vivo CAR T constructs for other solid tumors. The platform is also being used to build proprietary next-generation lentiviral vectors engineered to be superior to current in vivo delivery systems.

"As AI models become better at generating ideas, the scarce resource is experimental systems that tell you which designs actually matter," said Elliot Hershberg, Partner at Amplify Partners. "Waypoint combines AI-generated assets with spatially resolved in vivo evaluation and a path to rapid clinical readouts. We think that combination compounds over time."

(Press release, Waypoint Bio, JUN 1, 2026, View Source [SID1234666342])