Oncology Innovation

Raritan, N.J. – September 25, 2026 -- Half of patients with early-line relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma treated with a single infusion of Johnson & Johnson's CARVYKTI® (ciltacabtagene autoleucel) remained alive and progression-free for at least five years without maintenance therapy, according to new long-term data from the Phase 2 CARTITUDE-2 study.

Half of patients reach five-year progression-free survival without maintenance

In the initial subgroup of cohort A (N=20), 10 of 20 patients treated with a single CARVYKTI® infusion remained progression-free at a median follow-up of 60.7 months. Median progression-free survival reached 60.5 months, and the results were presented at the International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting (Abstract #PA-288). Cohort A enrolled patients who had received one to three prior lines of therapy, were exposed to a proteasome inhibitor, and were refractory to lenalidomide.

Suzhou – September 22, 2026 -- Boomray Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. has signed an exclusive global license agreement with Novartis Pharma AG for an undisclosed preclinical radioligand therapy (RLT) asset, with total deal value reaching up to USD 900 million.

Novartis secures rights to undisclosed preclinical oncology asset

Under the agreement, BoomRay will be eligible to receive an upfront payment plus development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments totaling up to USD 900 million. The Suzhou-based company will also earn royalties on future global net sales of the licensed program.

Shanghai and Hong Kong – September 16, 2026 -- Antengene Corporation Limited (SEHK: 6996.HK) has published preclinical data showing that combining its CD73 inhibitor ATG-037 with selinexor suppressed tumor growth by 62% in a multiple myeloma mouse model, versus 31% for ATG-037 alone and 43% for selinexor alone. The peer-reviewed paper, developed with the Department of Hematology at Peking University Third Hospital, appears in Cancer Gene Therapy, an SCI journal under Springer Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41417-026-01078-9).

Seoul – September 16, 2026 -- Johnson & Johnson reported that its RYBREVANT (amivantamab-vmjw) plus chemotherapy combination extended median overall survival to 34.3 months in patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer, compared with 27.9 months for chemotherapy alone, according to final data from the Phase 3 PAPILLON study.

Combination therapy nearly doubles historical survival benchmarks

The result marks the longest reported median overall survival for this patient population, which has historically faced a five-year survival rate of just 8 percent and a median overall survival ranging from 16 to 24 months. EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations account for approximately 12 percent of all EGFR mutations and have proven difficult to treat with existing targeted therapies.