Chicago, USA – May & June 2026

Introduction

Professor Shisong Jiang, Chief Scientific Officer, and Dr Nam Park, Chief Business Officer, represented Oxford Vacmedix (OVM) at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and Bio Partnering 2026 in Chicago, USA. The team presented the Phase I clinical trial data of OVM-200 and participated in a series of scientific, business development and investment discussions with pharmaceutical companies, investors and potential strategic partners.

ASCO remains the world’s largest oncology conference, attracting approximately 40,000 oncology professionals, researchers, clinicians, industry representatives and investors from more than 100 countries. The meeting showcased the latest advances in cancer therapeutics, diagnostics and translational research and provided an important opportunity to assess scientific, clinical and investment trends in the global oncology sector.

Major Scientific Highlights

1) RAS-targeted Therapy Emerges as a Major Breakthrough

One of the most significant developments presented at ASCO 2026 was the encouraging clinical data from the RASolute-302 study evaluating daraxonrasib in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat and has historically shown poor responses to targeted therapies and immunotherapies. The study demonstrated substantial improvements in clinical outcomes compared with historical standards, with objective response rates approaching 58% in selected patient populations and meaningful extensions in survival.

The success of RAS-targeting approaches suggests that previously “undruggable” oncogenic drivers may increasingly become actionable therapeutic targets.

2) Immunotherapy Remains a Dominant Theme

Immunotherapy continues to be a central focus of oncology drug development.

Among the most active areas were:

• Bispecific antibodies
• T-cell engagers (TCEs)
• Immune checkpoint inhibitors
• Novel immune-modulating antibodies
• Cell therapies

Virtually all major pharmaceutical companies presented immuno-oncology programmes, with T-cell engager technologies featuring prominently across multiple pipelines.

Many companies are now focusing on strategies to improve T-cell recruitment, activation and persistence within tumours, particularly in “cold” tumours with limited endogenous immune responses.

These trends are highly relevant to OVM’s ROP platform, which is specifically designed to generate and expand tumour-specific T-cell populations and may therefore complement T-cell engager approaches.

3) Growing Interest in Cancer Vaccines

Cancer vaccines attracted substantial attention throughout the meeting.

Both therapeutic and preventive cancer vaccines were widely discussed, particularly:

• Shared antigen vaccines
• Neoantigen vaccines
• mRNA cancer vaccines
• Viral-associated cancer vaccines
• Combination approaches with checkpoint inhibitors and T-cell engagers

The increasing recognition that effective T-cell priming remains a major bottleneck for many immunotherapies has renewed interest in vaccine-based approaches.

This trend is encouraging for OVM, given the strong immunogenicity observed in the Phase I clinical study of OVM-200 and the company’s ongoing HPV and mRNA-ROP programmes.

Bio Partnering Activities

During Bio Partnering 2026, OVM held numerous discussions with pharmaceutical companies, investors, CROs and academic organisations.

Several parties expressed interest in:

• OVM-200 clinical data
• ROP antigen engineering technology
• mRNA-ROP vaccine platforms
• Combination strategies involving T-cell engagers and other immunotherapies

Particular interest was shown in the ability of ROP technology to overcome immune tolerance against tumour-associated antigens and to generate robust tumour-specific T-cell responses.

A number of follow-up discussions, confidentiality agreements (CDAs) and potential collaboration opportunities are currently being explored.

Investment and Industry Trends

A clear theme emerging from both ASCO and Bio Partnering was the continued shift of investment towards programmes supported by convincing clinical data.

Investors increasingly prioritise:

• Human proof-of-concept data
• Clear clinical efficacy signals
• Strong immunological biomarkers
• De-risked translational programmes

Early-stage platform technologies continue to attract interest; however, programmes with demonstrated human clinical validation received significantly greater attention.

This trend is favourable for OVM given:

• Successful completion of the OVM-200 Phase I clinical study;
• Demonstrated safety and immunogenicity;
• Multiple translational applications of ROP technology;

Emerging opportunities in mRNA and combination immunotherapy.

Strategic Implications for OVM

1. Immunotherapy remains one of the fastest-growing sectors in oncology.
2. T-cell engagers are emerging as a major therapeutic class.
3. Effective T-cell priming is increasingly recognised as a limiting factor for many immunotherapies.
4. Therapeutic and preventive cancer vaccines are regaining momentum.
5. Investors are placing greater emphasis on clinically validated programmes.

OVM’s ROP platform is well positioned to support combination approaches involving T-cell engagers, checkpoint inhibitors and next-generation vaccine modalities, including mRNA platforms.

Conclusion

ASCO 2026 and Bio Partnering 2026 highlighted the continued evolution of cancer treatment towards precision oncology and immune-based therapies.

The meeting reinforced the growing importance of T-cell biology, antigen engineering and combination immunotherapy strategies. OVM’s ROP technology platform, together with the encouraging Phase I clinical results of OVM-200, positions the company well to participate in these emerging opportunities.

The discussions held during the meetings generated multiple follow-up opportunities with potential pharmaceutical and investment partners and further strengthened the rationale for advancing OVM’s vaccine and immunotherapy programmes.