Associate Scientist

Immunome reported Q2 2026 financial results, revealing a net loss of $73.1 million. The biotechnology company held $520.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of 30 June, expected to fund operations into 2028. The FDA accepted Immunome's application for varegacestat, a desmoid tumour treatment, setting an approval decision date of 28 April 2027. Phase 3 trial data showed an 84% reduction in disease progression risk versus placebo. Research and development expenses totalled $59.9 million for the quarter, whilst general and administrative costs reached $18.3 million. Immunome is advancing three additional clinical-stage programmes, with first patients dosed in trials for IM-1617 and IM-3050. The company plans to submit investigational new drug applications for IM-1340 and IM-1335 by late 2026.

Immunome debuts first-in-class ADC targeting mystery immune-excluding receptor tyrosine kinase. June 12, 2026 Bothell, Washington-based Immunome, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMNM) has dosed the first patient in a Phase I first-in-human study of IM-1617, an antibody-drug conjugate directed at an undisclosed receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and armed with HC74, the company's proprietary topoisomerase I inhibitor payload. The trial's significance lies partly in its target biology: the RTK in question is described as promoting tumor cell survival while simultaneously mediating immune cell exclusion - a dual role that, if confirmed clinically, could position IM-1617 as relevant in immunologically cold tumors where checkpoint inhibitors have largely failed. The open-label, multicenter dose escalation and expansion study will enroll patients with advanced solid tumors, including colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and breast cancer. Primary objectives cover safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics, with preliminary anti-tumor activity as an exploratory endpoint. Immunome has not disclosed enrollment targets or an anticipated completion date. Two additional ADC candidates - IM-1340 and IM-1335 - are expected to reach IND submission by mid- and late 2026, respectively, signaling broader platform ambitions beyond this single asset. The rationale for IM-1617 rests on a well-documented but therapeutically underexploited observation: certain receptor tyrosine kinases do not merely sustain tumor cell proliferation but actively remodel the tumor microenvironment to prevent T-cell infiltration. The TAM family RTKs - TYRO3, AXL, and MERTK - are the best-characterized examples, functioning as innate immune checkpoints that suppress dendritic cell and macrophage activity while driving tumor cell survival through PI3K/AKT and RAS/MAPK signaling. AXL in particular has been directly implicated in T-cell exclusion in breast cancer models, where high AXL expression correlated with complete absence of immune infiltration even following radiotherapy. This biology is directly relevant to the three indications Immunome has identified. Approximately 85% of colorectal cancers are microsatellite-stable and immunologically cold, explaining why PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have shown no benefit in this population. A comparable subset of non-small cell lung cancers and triple-negative breast cancers similarly fail to respond to immunotherapy, not because of absent antigenicity but because immune cells are physically excluded from the tumor parenchyma. An ADC targeting the RTK responsible for that exclusion could, in principle, simultaneously kill antigen-expressing tumor cells and relieve the suppressive barrier - potentially rendering surviving tumor tissue more susceptible to endogenous or therapeutically induced immune responses. Competitive positioning. The TOP1 inhibitor ADC space is crowded at the payload level but less so at the target level, where differentiation ultimately resides. Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca's DXd platform dominates across HER2, HER3, and TROP2, with multiple Phase II and Phase III assets in NSCLC and breast cancer. AbbVie is advancing ABBV-400, a c-MET-targeted ADC with a proprietary TOP1 inhibitor payload, in NSCLC and colorectal cancer - indications that directly overlap with IM-1617's target population. Because IM-1617's RTK target remains undisclosed, precise competitive mapping is not possible, but the functional description - an RTK driving both survival signaling and immune exclusion - most closely resembles AXL or MERTK biology, neither of which currently has a clinical-stage ADC program of note. Immunome's broader pipeline context is relevant here. Varegacestat, the company's gamma secretase inhibitor for desmoid tumors, has an NDA filed with the US FDA following Phase III data showing 84% reduction in progression risk and a 56% objective response rate - substantially outperforming the current standard. That near-term commercial asset provides a degree of financial and strategic runway for the ADC platform to mature. IM-1021, the ROR1 ADC sharing the HC74 payload with IM-1617, will generate the first human pharmacokinetic and safety data for HC74, which will inform dose selection and linker optimization for subsequent programs including IM-1617. This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed and edited by the AllSci editorial team Explore more at AllSci News: https://allsci.com/news/