Radically different
Nature Medicine, Published online: 02 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04442-2
A randomized, single-blind, parallel-group, phase 1b clinical trial compared fecal microbiota transplant or a 15-strain live biotherapeutic product (MTC01) derived from the same donor and found similar efficacy and engraftment between treatments.
Abivax said Monday that its experimental treatment for ulcerative colitis showed significant efficacy in a closely watched maintenance trial, but shares of the company tanked in post-market trading as it reported a few cases of cancer among treated patients.
The Phase 3 trial enrolled 580 patients who had responded in a pair of earlier, shorter trials. The participants were then followed for 44 weeks, and 50.8% of those taking the 25-milligram dose of the daily pill, called obefazimod, experienced clinical remission, while 51.3% of those taking the 50-mg dose did, compared with 10.4% of those on placebo.
The study appears to have posted the highest placebo-adjusted clinical remission rates observed in a long-term ulcerative colitis trial, Leerink analyst Thomas Smith wrote.
Nature Medicine, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04419-1
In an interim analysis of a phase 1/2 trial in 24 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, a genetically engineered autologous stem cell transplant designed to deliver interferon-α to the tumor microenvironment was well tolerated, with stable engraftment and evidence for immune reprogramming.
CHICAGO — Patients with high risk prostate cancer that hasn’t spread typically have two standard treatment paths before them. Remove the prostate surgically, or do a combination of radiation therapy and hormone therapy. Now, with the results of a new phase 3 clinical trial, some oncologists believe a third option may soon be laid on the table: surgery with hormone therapy both before and after the operation.
The study, called the PROTEUS trial, found that combining two hormone therapies both before and after surgery was superior to just one hormone therapy before and after surgery in high risk, early stage prostate cases.
There is a range in how prostate cancer experts are interpreting the results, however. Many told STAT that they believed it would lead to a new standard of care, with Emmanual Antonarakis, a genitourinary medical oncologist at the University of Minnesota, calling it a “watershed moment” in prostate cancer in a New England Journal of Medicine editorial.
Nature Medicine, Published online: 31 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04455-x
As presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, in a prespecified interim analysis of a phase 1a trial of IMA401—a new bispecific TCR-based T cell engager that binds a MAGE-A4/MAGE-A8 peptide presented by HLA-A*02:01—encouraging safety and a preliminary efficacy signal were observed in patients with head and neck cancers and melanoma, including those treated with both the engager and anti-PD-1.
CHICAGO — Ivonescimab, a drug that combines the activity of two of the best-selling cancer medicines, reduced the risk of death in patients with squamous non-small cell lung cancer by 34% compared to a standard treatment in a clinical trial conducted entirely in China by the drug’s developer, Akeso Therapeutics, according to data presented Sunday.
The result, oncologists say, exceeded their expectations, and it appears it could generate optimism for the drug, which is being developed outside China by Summit Therapeutics. But the data also are likely to fuel debate on issues like the role of China in drug development and the future of cancer treatments. The results were presented here at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and are being published simultaneously in The Lancet.
Robert Duggan, Summit’s co-CEO and chairman, said that the data mean the company has “a very valuable business with a very valuable product that is in its early stages.” Akeso had no comment for this story.
CHICAGO — The biotech company Revolution Medicines has begun sending its experimental, life-extending treatment for pancreatic cancer to physicians and their patients under an early access program authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, the company’s CEO, Mark Goldsmith, told STAT.
“We are now shipping the drug,” he said, speaking Friday evening at a STAT event held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The drug, daraxonrasib, is not yet approved. But patients with pancreatic cancer have been clamoring for it since mid-April, when Revolution reported the striking results of a Phase 3 clinical trial. Patients treated with daraxonrasib lived nearly twice as long as patients offered standard chemotherapy — an outcome unprecedented in the pancreatic cancer field.