Artificial intelligence tools are springing up at multiple points along drug discovery and development, but despite the hype, as yet there is minimal return on investment (ROI). “I would say a lot of companies sort of get this big excitement about AI, but then when you look at how much ROI they get, it’s actually very little. And that’s because the workflow and the process, end-to-end, isn’t mapped to really understand where AI can truly make an impact,” said Laura Matz, chief science and technology officer at Merck KGaA.

Homozygous deletion of methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), present in ~15% of tumors, leads to accumulation of methylthioadenosine and partial inhibition of protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5), creating a synthetic-lethal vulnerability that sensitizes tumors to PRMT5-targeted therapies. Researchers from Beone Medicines Ltd. presented preclinical efficacy data of BGB-58067, an MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitor, in models of tumors with MTAP-deficiency.

An advantage of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) is that they allow targeted delivery of cytotoxic agents into tumors, thus improving the therapeutic index. Pfizer Inc. has developed a new ADC, PF-08046033, that contains auristatin S (AurS) as the cytotoxic payload and targets transmembrane glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB).

Chengdu Kanghong Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. is developing a nonopioid Nav1.8 inhibitor, KHN-702. The effects of KHN-702 were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo, in a plantar incision pain model, and results were presented at the recent American Academy of Neurology meeting in Chicago.

Neomorph Inc.’s NEO-811 is a molecular glue degrader designed to induce targeted degradation of ARNT and suppress this signaling pathway implicated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Targeting ARNT offers a complementary strategy to broadly disrupt oncogenic HIF signaling in ccRCC.

Minimal residual disease (MRD) has become a central concept in modern oncology, reshaping how clinicians evaluate response, relapse risk and treatment precision. As increasingly sensitive technologies reveal traces of cancer that persist after therapy, MRD is emerging as both a biological challenge and a clinical opportunity, especially as new data illuminate its complexity across hematologic and solid tumors. This topic was addressed at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting.

Artificial intelligence tools are springing up at multiple points along drug discovery and development, but despite the hype, as yet there is minimal return on investment (ROI). “I would say a lot of companies sort of get this big excitement about AI, but then when you look at how much ROI they get, it’s actually very little. And that’s because the workflow and the process, end-to-end, isn’t mapped to really understand where AI can truly make an impact,” said Laura Matz, chief science and technology officer at Merck KGaA.

Incyte Corp. has developed and presented data for their CD70xCD3 bispecific antibody INCA-036873, which was designed to activate T cells and kill tumoral cells expressing CD70.

At the recently concluded meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Synendos Therapeutics AG reported preclinical data from the pharmacological characterization of SYT-510, which is the first selective endocannabinoid reuptake inhibitor (SERI) to enter the clinic for the potential treatment of disorders affecting the CNS, such as anxiety or movement disorders. A new class of endocannabinoid system (ECS) modulators, SERIs potently and selectively inhibit endocannabinoid reuptake to help the ECS restore normal brain function under disease conditions.

New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for drug development are transforming biomedical research by replacing or complementing animal models. More than 90% of experimental compounds fail in clinical trials, underscoring the need for strategies that better capture human biology. Many of these techniques were showcased at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting.