In September 2025, BioWorld recorded 230 clinical trial updates spanning phases I through III, up sharply from 95 in August, 140 in July and just below 254 in June. Among these, 22 phase III trials reported positive outcomes, while four ended in failure and another three produced mixed results.

Tango Therapeutics Inc. plans a pivotal study next year in second-line MTAP-deleted pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma based on positive phase I/II data with next-generation MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitor vopimetostat (TNG-462) in patients with tumors of that type.

Stem cells are a promising therapeutic modality to fight aging and age-related disease, speakers at the Bio-Plus Interphex Korea 2025 said. Progress in cell-based longevity medicine is being made, they added, although safety, ethical and regulatory issues are ongoing challenges.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a mature technology. The first ADC, Mylotarg, was initially approved in 2000, and there are now 14 approved agents in both leukemias and solid tumors. According to Clarivate’s Cortellis Drug Discovery & Intelligence, those drugs collectively accounted for $13.55 billion in sales in 2024 – a figure that Cortellis projects will rise to $16 billion in 2025.

The 2025 Annual Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) featured a track on tumor-agnostic therapies – the first time such a track has been included at ESMO, or at any major medical oncology meeting. “It’s a milestone,” Vivek Subbiah told the audience at a session on how to accelerate tumor-agnostic drug development.

The U.S. FDA approved 17 drugs in September 2025, following 18 approvals in August and 17 in July. That brings the year-to-date total to 160 approvals for the first three quarters, making it the second-highest total on record for this period, behind 183 approvals logged during the same timeframe in 2024.