Minneapolis-based Celcuity Inc. was like the Rolling Stones at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. The company reported positive phase III data for its pan-PI3K/mTORC1/2 inhibitor gedatolisib, but Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC) couldn’t get any satisfaction from investors who sent shares down 25.7%, or $31.54, to $91.42 on June 2, 2026.
At the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, multiple companies presented data for their drugs targeting WEE1, a checkpoint for the transition from G2 into mitosis. Aprea Therapeutics Inc. presented phase 1 data for its WEE1 inhibitor APR-1051 in patients with advanced solid tumors showing two patients with endometrial cancers achieved partial responses in the dose-escalation study. Likewise, Zentalis Pharmaceuticals Inc. had tantalizing early results from a phase Ib study showing azenosertib plus paclitaxel in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer produced an overall response rate of 39% with a median progression-free survival of 7.3 months.
At the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, Revolution Medicines Inc. followed up its stellar top-line data with the details from the phase III RASolute 302 study of its pan-RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib in patients with previously treated, metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The results were simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Multiple companies are chasing Akeso Inc. and Summit Therapeutics Inc. in the battle to potentially dethrone Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) as the top cancer immunotherapy for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer with bispecific antibodies targeting PD-(L)1 and VEGF.
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. disclosed in March 2026 that the phase III portion of the seamless phase II/III Successor-2 study testing mezigdomide in combination with carfilzomib and dexamethasone (MeziKd) in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma was successful. Nearly three months later, the magnitude of success for its Pomalyst (pomalidomide) successor is clear.
Oorja Bio Inc., named after the phonetic spelling of “energy” in Sanskrit, secured $30 million from founding investor Westlake Biopartners in a series A financing round to advance its in-licensing approach to develop drugs for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other fibrotic and cardiopulmonary diseases.
Create Medicines Inc. closed a $122 million series B financing round to support its pipeline of therapies that use mRNAs delivered via liquid nanoparticles to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) in T cells, NK cells and myeloid cells inside the body of patients. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company estimates the capital will last through 2028, providing the opportunity for multiple clinical readouts of its various products.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. stuck with the tradition of releasing bad news on Friday afternoon and good news on Monday morning with a pair of announcements bracketing the weekend. On May 15, 2026, the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based company announced disappointing data for its LAG-3 inhibitor fianlimab. And then on May 18, 2026, Regeneron announced better news in the form of a deal with Parabilis Medicines Inc.
Anaptysbio Inc. announced in September of 2025 that it planned to separate its drug development business from the royalties it receives on Jemperli (dostarlimab) from GSK plc and imsidolimab from Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. Just seven months later, on April 20, 2026, well ahead of its “year-end 2026” goal, First Tracks Biotherapeutics Inc., the drug development arm of the company, started trading as a standalone company on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol TRAX.
Tortugas Neuroscience Inc. came out of its shell to announce the raising of $106 million between its seed and series A financing rounds. “We like the symbolism of the sea turtle – long-lived, persistent, very determined,” Tortugas CEO Jeff Jonas said of the company’s name.
