Daily briefings
Editor’s Briefing: October 29, 2026
In Short. Genmab’s antibody petosemtamab halved the risk of death in a late-stage trial for advanced head and neck cancer. Geron stopped a trial of its blood cancer drug after an outside panel judged it would fail.
Genmab’s petosemtamab extends survival in head and neck cancer
HEAD and neck squamous cell carcinoma is a cancer of the lining of the mouth, throat and voice box. Once it returns or spreads, patients typically live about 10 to 12 months. Genmab, a Danish drug developer, makes petosemtamab, an antibody that binds two proteins on tumor cells, EGFR and LGR5, and helps immune cells kill them. On Wednesday it reported the first planned early look at LiGeR-HN1, a late-stage trial that added petosemtamab to pembrolizumab, a standard immune drug, in patients receiving their first treatment for advanced disease (Genmab release). The combination cut the risk of death by 50% compared with pembrolizumab alone, and tumors were more likely to shrink. No new safety problems appeared. Genmab plans to talk to regulators and present full results at a medical meeting.
Geron stops a myelofibrosis trial
Myelofibrosis is a rare blood cancer in which scar tissue builds up in the bone marrow. Many patients take JAK inhibitors, pills that calm the overactive signals behind the disease, but these often stop working. Geron’s imetelstat, sold as Rytelo for a related blood disorder, blocks telomerase, an enzyme that lets cancer cells keep dividing. Its IMpactMF trial enrolled 327 patients whose disease had come back or resisted a JAK inhibitor and compared imetelstat with the best treatment otherwise available. On Wednesday Geron said it would stop the trial (Geron release). An independent data monitoring committee, a group of outside experts who review results while a trial runs, told the company the study was unlikely to show that patients lived longer. It saw no new safety problems. Geron will analyze the data and publish the findings later.
Flagship merges three startups into Etcelera
Flagship Pioneering, a Massachusetts firm that founds biotech companies, said on Thursday that it had combined the technology of three of its startups, Cellarity, Etiome and Empress Therapeutics, into a new company called Etcelera (Flagship announcement). Etcelera will pair data on which genes are switched on in human tissue, and on how cells respond when a gene or chemical disrupts them, with artificial intelligence. It aims to find the causes of disease and design small-molecule drugs, which are usually pills, that are more likely to work in people. Its first programs are in blood disorders, including myelofibrosis, as well as metabolism and the immune system. No new funding was announced. The three startups had drawn $374m in venture funding before the merger (BioPharma Dive).
Mesoblast’s cell therapy sales grow
Graft-versus-host disease occurs when immune cells from a bone marrow transplant attack the patient’s own body. Mesoblast, an Australian company, sells Ryoncil, a therapy made from donor stromal cells (support cells taken from bone marrow) that reduce that attack in children whose disease does not respond to steroids. On Wednesday evening it reported Ryoncil sales of $28m for the three months to September, up 44% from a year earlier (Mesoblast report). The figures are preliminary and have not been audited. The company spent a net $2.1m of cash on its operations in the quarter, compared with $14.9m a year before, and held $99m. A trial of Ryoncil in adults is enrolling patients.
DBV warns it needs more money
Peanut allergy can cause severe and sometimes fatal reactions. DBV Technologies, a French company, has developed Viaskin Peanut, a skin patch that exposes the immune system to tiny amounts of peanut protein to make it less reactive. In September it asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve the patch for children aged four to seven. On Wednesday afternoon DBV said its $165.7m of cash should last only into the third quarter of 2027 (DBV release). That is less than a year, so the company stated that there is “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating, a standard warning known as a going-concern notice. Its quarterly loss rose to $64.5m from $33.2m. The FDA is expected to say by the end of the year whether it will accept the application for full review.