On April 21, 2026 BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. (Nasdaq: BCTX, BCTXL) (TSX: BCT) ("BriaCell" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops novel immunotherapies to transform cancer care, reported positive data from its preclinical Bria-OTS+ platform at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting taking place April 17–22 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The poster is summarized below and linked here: View Source

Title: Re-Engineering Cancer Vaccines: Bria-OTS+ Integrates Innate and Adaptive Immunity for Broad and Persistent Anti-Tumor Responses
Session Category: Clinical Research
Session Title: Vaccines and Other Immunomodulatory Agents
Session: 4/21/2026 2:00-5:00 PM
Location: Poster Section 49
Poster Board Number: 12
Poster Number: 6701

Summary: Bria-OTS+ is a personalized, off-the-shelf, next-generation genetically engineered whole-cell cancer immunotherapy platform designed to enhance efficacy and safety. Our results demonstrate that Bria-OTS+ activates key components of both the innate and adaptive immune systems to broadly target and destroy cancer cells across solid tumors. These effects include coordinated activation of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, NK cells, NKT cells, dendritic cells, and B cells, together with increased cytokine release and sustained immune competence without exhaustion—helping address an important mechanism of cancer progression.

Data presented includes the following:

Rapid activation of innate and adaptive immune responses: Bria-BRES+ (breast cancer) and Bria-PROS+ (prostate cancer) drove early activation and proliferation of key immune cells including CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, NK cells, and NKT cells, enhanced cytotoxic activity against parental tumor targets, and increased CD80/CD86 expression on dendritic and B cells, consistent with improved antigen-presentation.
Sustained, long-lasting and targeted anti-tumor activity: Bria-BRES+ and Bria-PROS+ generated durable cytokine responses and maintained cytotoxic, serial killing activity through repeated cancer cell challenges without evidence of functional exhaustion. Bria-OTS+ also showed limited induction of immunosuppressive cell populations including regulatory T cells (Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs).
Broad tumor recognition may reduce escape risk: Bria-BRES+ and Bria-PROS+ cells demonstrated anti-tumor activity against multiple tumor targets, supporting the potential of Bria-OTS+ to drive broad, cross-tumor immune responses, reduce immune escape, and limit cancer progression.
Bria-OTS+ proposed mechanism of action: Following intradermal administration, Bria-OTS+ is designed to activate T cells and NK cells directly, while professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) take up tumor specific antigens, migrate to regional lymph nodes and prime tumor-specific T cells to drive a systemic anti-tumor immune response.
Miguel A. Lopez-Lago, PhD, BriaCell’s Chief Scientific Officer, commented, "We are thrilled with our data showing early, strong, and long-lasting anti-cancer activity of Bria-OTS+ in multiple cancer models, boosting the immune system response, and potentially overcoming common cancer cell resistance mechanisms. Our findings strongly support targeted anti-cancer effects of Bria-OTS+ and warrant additional testing of the Bria-OTS+ platform in clinical settings."

"Based on these promising preclinical findings, we are advancing Bria-OTS+ with the goal of entering the clinic for our first indications of metastatic breast cancer and prostate cancer later this year, with additional indications (lung cancer and melanoma) planned for 2027," added Dr. William V. Williams, BriaCell’s President and CEO.

(Press release, BriaCell Therapeutics, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664853])

On April 21, 2026, Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the "Company") reported to have entered into securities purchase agreements (the "Agreements") with certain accredited investors (the "Investors") pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell and issue to the Investors in a private placement offering (the "Offering"), an aggregate offering of 17,500,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the "Common Stock") at an offering price of $0.04 per share for gross proceeds of $700,000. The Offering closed on April 21, 2026.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The Common Stock is being offered in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirement of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) thereof and/or Rule 506(b) of Regulation D promulgated thereunder, and applicable state securities laws. The issuance of the Common Stock has not been registered under the Securities Act and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act and any applicable state securities laws.

The Agreements contain customary representations, warranties and agreements by the Company, customary conditions to closing, indemnification obligations of the Company, other obligations of the parties and termination provisions.

(Filing, Hepion Pharmaceuticals, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664681])

On April 21, 2026 Precede Biosciences, a company powering next-generation precision medicine through its comprehensive epigenomic liquid biopsy platform, reported the launch of Precede Bio Insight and the presentation of new data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2026 Annual Meeting, held April 17–22 in San Diego, California.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Precede Bio Insight is a first-of-its-kind product that decodes genome-wide transcriptional biology from cell-free DNA in just 1 mL of plasma, enabling quantitative inference of gene expression, pathway activity, and cell states with concordance to tissue-based measurements. By simultaneously assessing therapeutic targets, resistance pathways, and tumor lineage programs in a single assay, Insight provides a functional, systems-level view of tumor biology to inform drug development and patient selection.

"Cancer clinical trials enroll close to 300,000 patients annually, yet access to real-time functional tumor biology remains limited, constraining mechanistic insight and the ability to refine therapeutic development strategies," said Rehan Verjee, Chief Executive Officer of Precede Biosciences. "With the launch of Precede Bio Insight, R&D teams can now serially access genome-wide visibility across targets, pathways, and cell states from just 1 mL of plasma, enabling smarter decisions about patient selection, treatment combinations, and sequencing."

The Insight launch is supported by a growing body of clinical evidence, including the three studies presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2026, conducted in collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Genentech, and Emory University School of Medicine. Across these studies, profiling from plasma:

Correlated with tissue-based measures of tumor biology, including RNA expression and protein target expression
Enabled multiplexed, quantitative assessment of therapeutically relevant targets and pathways such as DLL3, CEACAM5, and the ER pathway
Captured tumor heterogeneity and lineage plasticity, including continuous states of neuroendocrine differentiation
Predicted response to endocrine therapy, including next-generation SERDs, through a plasma-based functional measure of tumor ER pathway dependence
Provided early pharmacodynamic readout of treatment response
Revealed resistance mechanisms beyond genomic alterations

AACR 2026 Presentations

Characterization of functional estrogen receptor (ER) dependence via comprehensive epigenomic liquid biopsy stratifies endocrine therapy (ET) responders with metastatic breast cancer (MBC)
A liquid biopsy assay of estrogen receptor activity predicts response to giredestrant in ER+/HER2− advanced breast cancer
Plasma-based comprehensive epigenomic profiling enables multiplexed prediction of target gene expression and detection of resistance mechanisms

Data presentations are available in the presentations section of the company website at www.precede.bio.

(Press release, Precede Biosciences, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664675])

On April 21, 2026 Amphista Therapeutics ("the Company" or "Amphista"), a leader in the discovery and development of non-cereblon/non-VHL Targeted Glue degraders, reported the first public disclosure of the chemical structure of its lead Targeted Glue AMX-883, a novel DCAF16-dependent protein degrader of BRD9, during the New Drugs on the Horizon session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego, California yesterday.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The oral presentation titled "Discovery of AMX-883: an orally bioavailable, novel degrader of BRD9 as a karyotype-independent pro-differentiation agent for the potential treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia", detailed the discovery and optimisation of a series of DCAF16-recruiting BRD9 degraders which yielded AMX-883, an orally bioavailable clinical candidate with picomolar potency and exquisite selectivity over the related bromodomain proteins BRD4 and BRD7. The DCAF16-dependent mechanism of action of AMX-883 was structurally confirmed by high-resolution cryo-EM of the ternary complex, revealing true glue-like interactions that stabilize the complex.

Amphista nominated AMX-883 as its first clinical development candidate in October 2025, based on a preclinical data package which expands the growing evidence base defining a critical role for BRD9 in maintaining acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) blast stemness and survival.

Martin Pass, Chief Development Officer at Amphista Therapeutics, said: "I’m delighted to be able to share the preclinical characterization data for AMX-883, our BRD9 Targeted Glue degrader, for the first time at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper). Not only does it showcase the ability of our Eclipsys platform to deliver truly differentiated and high-quality molecules, but it also brings new insight and mechanistic understanding to BRD9’s role in AML and the hope that targeted removal from AML blasts may bring profound benefit to patients".

The data presented demonstrate that by degrading BRD9, AMX-883 relieves the differentiation block characteristic of AML, inducing expression of myeloid differentiation genes and repressing pro-proliferative programmes. AMX-883 increases markers of myeloid maturation across a range of AML cell lines representing diverse cytogenetic backgrounds, including TP53-mutant disease. This underlines its potential as a broad-acting, pro-differentiation agent and karyotype-independent therapeutic with the potential to benefit a wider population of AML patients than current treatments.

Critically, through BRD9 degradation, AMX-883 blocks patient-derived tumour growth in vivo as a monotherapy and demonstrated synergistic efficacy while in combination with venetoclax and prevented the emergence of resistance to venetoclax in vitro, addressing a major clinical challenge in AML.

Patrick Kelly, Chief Medical Officer at Amphista Therapeutics, added: "AML is a devastating disease with a poor prognosis, and most patients will relapse or become refractory to current treatments within a matter of months. As a karyotype-independent, pro-differentiation agent, AMX-883 has the potential to address a critical unmet need in AML by offering a broadly applicable treatment option. We are excited to advance this highly differentiated molecule into clinical trials in the second half of this year bringing new hope to patients facing this serious disease."

The Company is advancing AMX-883 into a Phase I clinical trial for AML in H2 2026.

(Press release, Amphista Therapeutics, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664674])

On April 21, 2026 BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. (Nasdaq: BCTX, BCTXL) (TSX: BCT) ("BriaCell" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops novel immunotherapies to transform cancer care, reported positive data from its preclinical Bria-OTS+ platform at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting taking place April 17–22 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The poster is summarized below and linked here: View Source

Title: Re-Engineering Cancer Vaccines: Bria-OTS+ Integrates Innate and Adaptive Immunity for Broad and Persistent Anti-Tumor Responses
Session Category: Clinical Research
Session Title: Vaccines and Other Immunomodulatory Agents
Session: 4/21/2026 2:00-5:00 PM
Location: Poster Section 49
Poster Board Number: 12
Poster Number: 6701

Summary: Bria-OTS+ is a personalized, off-the-shelf, next-generation genetically engineered whole-cell cancer immunotherapy platform designed to enhance efficacy and safety. Our results demonstrate that Bria-OTS+ activates key components of both the innate and adaptive immune systems to broadly target and destroy cancer cells across solid tumors. These effects include coordinated activation of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, NK cells, NKT cells, dendritic cells, and B cells, together with increased cytokine release and sustained immune competence without exhaustion—helping address an important mechanism of cancer progression.

Data presented includes the following:

Rapid activation of innate and adaptive immune responses: Bria-BRES+ (breast cancer) and Bria-PROS+ (prostate cancer) drove early activation and proliferation of key immune cells including CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, NK cells, and NKT cells, enhanced cytotoxic activity against parental tumor targets, and increased CD80/CD86 expression on dendritic and B cells, consistent with improved antigen-presentation.
Sustained, long-lasting and targeted anti-tumor activity: Bria-BRES+ and Bria-PROS+ generated durable cytokine responses and maintained cytotoxic, serial killing activity through repeated cancer cell challenges without evidence of functional exhaustion. Bria-OTS+ also showed limited induction of immunosuppressive cell populations including regulatory T cells (Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs).
Broad tumor recognition may reduce escape risk: Bria-BRES+ and Bria-PROS+ cells demonstrated anti-tumor activity against multiple tumor targets, supporting the potential of Bria-OTS+ to drive broad, cross-tumor immune responses, reduce immune escape, and limit cancer progression.
Bria-OTS+ proposed mechanism of action: Following intradermal administration, Bria-OTS+ is designed to activate T cells and NK cells directly, while professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) take up tumor specific antigens, migrate to regional lymph nodes and prime tumor-specific T cells to drive a systemic anti-tumor immune response.
Miguel A. Lopez-Lago, PhD, BriaCell’s Chief Scientific Officer, commented, "We are thrilled with our data showing early, strong, and long-lasting anti-cancer activity of Bria-OTS+ in multiple cancer models, boosting the immune system response, and potentially overcoming common cancer cell resistance mechanisms. Our findings strongly support targeted anti-cancer effects of Bria-OTS+ and warrant additional testing of the Bria-OTS+ platform in clinical settings."

"Based on these promising preclinical findings, we are advancing Bria-OTS+ with the goal of entering the clinic for our first indications of metastatic breast cancer and prostate cancer later this year, with additional indications (lung cancer and melanoma) planned for 2027," added Dr. William V. Williams, BriaCell’s President and CEO.

(Press release, BriaCell Therapeutics, APR 21, 2026, View Source [SID1234664673])