Registration-Ready: How 2026's Clinical Leaders Are Beating Cancer Benchmarks
Issued on behalf of Oncolytics Biotech Inc.
VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 27, 2026 /CNW/ -- Equity-Insider.com News Commentary – The global oncology therapy market is charging toward a massive $668 billion valuation by 2034, as a ruthless capital rotation finally rewards execution-ready platforms over the "hopes and dreams" of speculative discovery assets[1]. With the FDA's accelerated approval pathway delivering survival wins across 65% of solid tumor indications, the 2026 regulatory landscape is demanding a new breed of registration-directed study designs that prioritize raw objective response rates and durability[2]. This structural shift creates an asymmetric investment window for Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ: VIR), and Coherus Oncology (NASDAQ: CHRS) at the intersection of pivotal execution readiness and combination immunotherapy innovation in high-unmet-need gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer markets.
As pharmaceutical giants face a staggering patent cliff, they are aggressively hunting for late-stage assets with clear, high-signal registration pathways[3]. In 2026, the market isn't buying "promise"--it's buying the disciplined execution of pivotal trials and the mechanistic clarity that determines valuation floors[4].
Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) is strengthening its operational and clinical leadership as it advances pelareorep toward multiple registration-directed programs in gastrointestinal cancers.
The company recently announced the appointments of John McAdory as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Operations and Yujun Wu as Vice President, Head of Biostatistics, bringing deep expertise in late-stage oncology trial execution and regulatory strategy. McAdory joins from CG Oncology, where he served as Vice President of Clinical Operations leading late-stage development programs for oncolytic virus therapies. Wu arrives from Morphic Therapeutic, where he headed Biostatistics through the company's acquisition by Eli Lilly, and previously led statistical strategy for multiple Phase 3 oncology programs at Takeda. Both executives bring direct experience navigating complex registration trials and global regulatory interactions.
"John's background running complex, late-stage oncology trials makes him exceptionally well-suited to lead Oncolytics' next phase of execution," said Jared Kelly, CEO of Oncolytics Biotech. "As we progress toward pivotal and registration-enabling studies in anal, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers, his experience will be critical to ensuring disciplined execution, speed, and regulatory alignment."
These appointments complete a transformative executive team buildout following Kelly's promotion to CEO last year and the addition of Chief Business Officer Andrew Aromando. They were both crucial contributors to Ambrx Biopharma's $2 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson. Oncolytics also recently expanded its Scientific Advisory Board with globally recognized experts from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center, positioning the company for accelerated clinical development across multiple indications.
The company recently announced breakthrough efficacy data showing pelareorep achieved a 33% objective response rate in second-line KRAS-mutant microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer patients when combined with standard chemotherapy. This triples the historical 6-11% response rate for chemotherapy alone in this difficult-to-treat patient population.
The company is also advancing pelareorep toward potential accelerated approval in anal cancer after reporting third-line data that achieved a 29% objective response rate, nearly tripling historical benchmarks in a setting with no FDA-approved treatment options. The median duration of response reached approximately 17 months.
Second-line or later results were equally compelling, with pelareorep achieving a 30% response rate, more than doubling the 13.8% benchmark for the only FDA-approved immunotherapy in this setting. The median duration of response of 15.5 months compared to 9.5 months for standard care demonstrates pelareorep's ability to deliver durable clinical benefit in patients with limited treatment options.
Oncolytics has also secured FDA alignment on its Phase 3 study design for pelareorep in first-line metastatic pancreatic cancer, positioning it to launch the only immunotherapy registration trial currently planned for this disease. This regulatory milestone clears the path for initiating a pivotal study in one of oncology's most challenging therapeutic areas.
CONTINUED… Read this and more news for Oncolytics Biotech at: https://equity-insider.com/2025/03/18/is-oncolytics-biotech-the-markets-most-undervalued-cancer-opportunity/
In other recent industry developments and happenings in the market include:
Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Merck (NYSE: MRK) announced median five-year follow-up data from the Phase 2b KEYNOTE-942/mRNA-4157-P201 study, demonstrating that adjuvant treatment with intismeran autogene in combination with KEYTRUDA reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49% compared to KEYTRUDA alone in patients with high-risk stage III/IV melanoma following complete resection.
"Now with five years of follow-up data, today's results highlight the potential of a prolonged benefit of the intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA combination in patients with resected high-risk melanoma," said Kyle Holen, M.D., Moderna's Senior Vice President and Head of Development, Oncology and Therapeutics. "We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA's potential in cancer care."
The companies have eight Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials underway across multiple tumor types, including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma. Moderna and Merck plan to present further data from follow-up analyses of the study's primary and secondary endpoints at an upcoming medical meeting, with the Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial for adjuvant melanoma fully enrolled.
Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ: VIR) provided updates on its oncology solid tumor portfolio, including new Phase 1 data from its PSMA-targeted PRO-XTEN dual-masked T-cell engager VIR-5500 in prostate cancer to be presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in February. VIR-5500 is currently being evaluated as monotherapy and in combination with androgen receptor pathway inhibitors for the first-line treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, with the Phase 1 trial successfully clearing the second dose cohort.
The Company is also currently enrolling patients in its Phase 1 dose escalation trials for VIR-5818 in HER2-expressing solid tumors and VIR-5525 in EGFR-expressing solid tumors, with Phase 1 dose escalation response data for VIR-5818 expected in the second half of 2026. Vir Biotechnology is progressing additional PRO-XTEN masked T-cell engagers in preclinical studies directed at clinically validated targets with potential applications across lung, colorectal and bladder cancers, all discovered using the Company's proprietary antibody and T-cell engager discovery platform including dAIsY, a proprietary artificial intelligence engine, and the universal PRO-XTEN masking technology.
Coherus Oncology (NASDAQ: CHRS) announced publication in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics highlighting the strong pharmacology of investigational CCR8 antibody tagmokitug, demonstrating picomolar binding affinity with no off-target binding. The publication provides important scientific evidence showing tagmokitug selectively eliminates CCR8+ T regulatory cells without affecting other immune cells, with proof-of-mechanism established in first-in-human clinical studies showing selective reductions in CCR8+ Tregs.
"This publication presents the robust pharmacology of tagmokitug in preclinical and clinical studies, and with a selectivity profile and potent binding and killing of CCR8+ T regulatory cells and not other immune cells. These data provide evidence that tagmokitug has the potential for a differentiated profile," said Theresa LaVallee, Ph.D., Chief Scientific and Development Officer at Coherus. "The data show a high abundance of CCR8 target expression in a broad range of solid tumors suggesting the promise of the tagmokitug program."
Coherus Oncology is currently evaluating tagmokitug in Phase 1b/2a clinical trials in patients with solid tumors, including head and neck, colorectal, gastric, and esophageal cancer. The company's immunotherapy pipeline focuses on enhancing innate and adaptive immune responses to enable robust antitumor activity in combination with the approved PD-1 inhibitor LOQTORZI.
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SOURCES:
- https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/12/02/3198196/0/en/Oncology-Market-Size-Worth-USD-668-26-Billion-by-2034.html
- https://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com/news/fda-accelerated-approval-oncology-drugs-improved-patient-survival/
- https://www.biospace.com/drug-development/biotech-investors-bet-on-a-2026-rebound-as-deal-activity-accelerates
- https://blog.crownbio.com/the-oncology-drug-development-landscape
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