From immune checkpoint inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates to targeted radioligand therapies, leukemia treatments, and blood-based cancer screening, oncology was strongly represented among the winners of the 2026 Prix Galien Awards.
The Galien Foundation announced the recipients of the 2026 International Prix Galien and Prix Galien USA Awards following a ceremony held on October 29 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Among the recognized innovations were pembrolizumab, trastuzumab deruxtecan, tebentafusp, lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan, and revumenib, alongside Guardant Health’s Shield blood test for colorectal cancer screening.
The awards also recognized Evaxion’s AI-Immunology platform, which is being used to develop cancer vaccines and other immunotherapies, and Dren Bio, a biotechnology company advancing investigational therapies for hematologic malignancies.
The 2026 ceremony coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Prix Galien USA Awards and brought together researchers, pharmaceutical developers, clinicians and healthcare innovators.
While the recognized products span different therapeutic areas and stages of development, the oncology winners illustrate several important shifts in cancer medicine: the expansion of precision oncology, the increasing diversity of immunotherapeutic approaches, the emergence of new targeted treatments for rare malignancies, and growing interest in less invasive cancer detection.
International Prix Galien 2026: Recognizing Innovations Across Oncology
Pembrolizumab: A Decade of Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy
Award: Best Pharmaceutical Product
Company: MSD (Merck & Co.)
Pembrolizumab received the 2026 International Prix Galien Award for Best Pharmaceutical Product, recognizing one of the most widely studied immune checkpoint inhibitors in oncology.
First approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014 for advanced melanoma, pembrolizumab is a monoclonal antibody targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). By blocking the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, the treatment helps restore antitumor immune responses.
Over the following decade, pembrolizumab became a treatment option across numerous malignancies, including lung, breast, colorectal, head and neck, gastric, cervical, endometrial and renal cancers, among others.
One of its most important milestones came in 2017, when the FDA granted the first tissue-agnostic approval of a cancer therapy based on a tumor’s molecular characteristics rather than its anatomical origin.
That decision allowed pembrolizumab to be used in certain unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or deficient mismatch repair (dMMR), establishing a major precedent for biomarker-driven immunotherapy.
Subsequent clinical development has expanded its use across metastatic and early-stage disease, including perioperative treatment strategies intended to reduce recurrence.
Its recognition at the 2026 Prix Galien Awards highlights the lasting influence of checkpoint inhibition on modern oncology, even as questions remain about resistance, treatment duration, immune-related toxicity, and patient selection.
Trastuzumab Deruxtecan: Expanding the Meaning of HER2 Targeting
Award: Best Biotechnology Product
Companies: Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca
Trastuzumab deruxtecan, a HER2-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), received the International Prix Galien Award for Best Biotechnology Product.
The recognition follows its 2024 Prix Galien USA Award in the same category and reflects the treatment’s expanding role across several malignancies.
Developed using Daiichi Sankyo’s DXd technology, trastuzumab deruxtecan combines a HER2-targeting monoclonal antibody with a topoisomerase I inhibitor payload delivered through cleavable linkers.
Since its first US approval in 2019, the therapy has contributed to a major change in the clinical interpretation of HER2 expression.
The DESTINY-Breast04 trial established the clinical benefit of trastuzumab deruxtecan in previously treated HER2-low metastatic breast cancer, while DESTINY-Breast06 extended the evidence to hormone receptor-positive disease with HER2-low and HER2-ultralow expression.
More recently, studies including DESTINY-Breast09, DESTINY-Breast05 and DESTINY-Breast11 have examined its use in earlier treatment lines and potentially curative breast cancer settings.
Beyond breast cancer, trastuzumab deruxtecan has demonstrated activity in HER2-positive gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers, HER2-mutant non-small cell lung cancer, and several other HER2-expressing solid tumors.
Its development has reinforced the importance of biomarker testing while introducing new questions about the optimal sequencing of ADCs, the reproducibility of HER2-low testing and the management of treatment-related interstitial lung disease.
In its October 30 announcement, Daiichi Sankyo emphasized the therapy’s role in establishing HER2-low and HER2-ultralow breast cancer as clinically actionable patient populations.
Tebentafusp: A New Therapeutic Approach for Metastatic Uveal Melanoma
Award: Best Product for Rare/Orphan Diseases
Company: Immunocore
Tebentafusp received the International Prix Galien Award for Best Product for Rare/Orphan Diseases, recognizing an important advance for patients with metastatic uveal melanoma.
Uveal melanoma is a rare malignancy arising from melanocytes within the eye. Although it shares a name with cutaneous melanoma, it has distinct molecular characteristics and generally responds poorly to conventional immune checkpoint inhibition.
Tebentafusp introduced a different approach.
The therapy is a bispecific fusion protein that combines a T-cell receptor recognizing a gp100-derived peptide presented by HLA-A*02:01 with an anti-CD3 domain that recruits and activates T cells against tumor cells.
Its approval established the first systemic treatment shown in a randomized trial to significantly improve overall survival in previously untreated HLA-A*02:01-positive unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma.
Long-term evidence has further strengthened its clinical significance.
According to five-year follow-up data presented by Immunocore at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting, the overall survival rate was 16% with tebentafusp compared with 8% in the control arm, while median overall survival was 21.6 versus 16.9 months, respectively.
The therapy also raises an important question in immuno-oncology: how should clinical benefit be evaluated when traditional radiographic response measurements do not fully capture survival outcomes?
For a malignancy with historically limited systemic treatment options, tebentafusp represents both a therapeutic advance and proof of concept for T-cell receptor-based cancer treatment.
Prix Galien USA 2026: Radioligand Therapy, Leukemia Treatment and Cancer Screening
Lutetium Lu 177 Vipivotide Tetraxetan: Bringing Radioligand Therapy Earlier in Prostate Cancer
Award: Best Pharmaceutical Product
Company: Novartis
Lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan received the 2026 Prix Galien USA Award for Best Pharmaceutical Product, reflecting the growing role of radioligand therapy in advanced prostate cancer.
The treatment combines a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting molecule with the radioactive isotope lutetium-177, enabling targeted delivery of beta radiation to PSMA-expressing cancer cells.
Initially approved in 2022 for patients with PSMA-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) previously treated with an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor and taxane-based chemotherapy, the therapy subsequently moved into an earlier treatment setting.
In March 2025, the FDA expanded its indication to include patients with PSMA-positive mCRPC who had received androgen receptor pathway inhibitor therapy and were considered appropriate to delay taxane-based chemotherapy.
The decision was supported by the phase III PSMAfore trial.
In the FDA’s analysis, median radiographic progression-free survival was 9.3 months with lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan versus 5.6 months with a change in androgen receptor pathway inhibitor, corresponding to a hazard ratio of 0.41. The overall survival difference was not statistically significant in that analysis.
Beyond its clinical efficacy, radioligand therapy illustrates a different model of precision oncology: selecting patients through molecular imaging and subsequently delivering radiation to the identified target.
Its wider integration into oncology also requires specialized infrastructure, nuclear medicine expertise, reliable isotope production and coordination across multidisciplinary teams.
Revumenib: Targeting Menin in Acute Leukemia
Award: Best Product for Rare/Orphan Diseases
Company: Syndax Pharmaceuticals
Revumenib received the 2026 Prix Galien USA Award for Best Product for Rare/Orphan Diseases, recognizing the introduction of a new targeted treatment approach for certain relapsed or refractory acute leukemias.
Revumenib is an oral menin inhibitor designed to disrupt the interaction between menin and KMT2A-associated transcriptional complexes, an interaction involved in maintaining abnormal leukemia-associated gene expression.
In November 2024, the FDA approved revumenib for adults and children aged one year and older with relapsed or refractory acute leukemia harboring a KMT2A translocation.
The indication was expanded in October 2025 to include relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia with susceptible NPM1 mutations in patients without satisfactory alternative treatment options.
These approvals are particularly relevant because KMT2A-translocated and NPM1-mutated leukemias represent molecularly defined patient populations that may remain difficult to treat following relapse.
The clinical development program, including the AUGMENT-101 trial, demonstrated the activity of menin inhibition in these settings, supporting the introduction of a new therapeutic class.
However, treatment requires attention to potentially serious adverse events, including differentiation syndrome, QTc prolongation and cardiac arrhythmias.
In its October 30 press release, Syndax highlighted the potential of menin inhibition to change treatment approaches for patients with these high-risk leukemias.
Ongoing research is evaluating revumenib in combinations and earlier treatment settings, where questions about long-term outcomes, resistance and optimal sequencing remain important.
Guardant Health’s Shield: Recognizing Innovation in Colorectal Cancer Screening
Award: Best Medical Technology
Company: Guardant Health
Not every oncology-related winner was a cancer treatment.
Guardant Health’s Shield blood test received the 2026 Prix Galien USA Award for Best Medical Technology, recognizing an approach to colorectal cancer screening that uses circulating cell-free DNA.
The test was approved by the FDA in July 2024 for colorectal cancer screening in average-risk adults aged 45 years and older.
Unlike colonoscopy, which directly visualizes the colon and allows for removal of precancerous lesions, Shield analyzes cancer-associated molecular alterations in a blood sample.
Its approval was supported by the prospective ECLIPSE study, which evaluated the performance of the blood-based test against screening colonoscopy.
In the study, Shield demonstrated 83.1% sensitivity for colorectal cancer detection and 89.6% specificity among participants without advanced colorectal neoplasia.
However, sensitivity for advanced precancerous lesions was only 13.2%, an important limitation that distinguishes blood-based screening from approaches capable of detecting and removing precancerous polyps.
A positive Shield result requires diagnostic colonoscopy, and the test is not intended to replace diagnostic or surveillance colonoscopy in high-risk patients.
Its potential contribution lies in offering an additional screening option for individuals who might otherwise remain unscreened.
The recognition highlights a growing emphasis on making cancer screening more accessible while also underscoring the importance of understanding the trade-offs between convenience, diagnostic performance and cancer prevention.
AI and Biotechnology Platforms Also Receive Recognition
Beyond approved medicines and diagnostic tests, two additional International Prix Galien winners have direct relevance to oncology research.
Evaxion received the Best Digital Health Solution Award for its AI-Immunology platform, which uses artificial intelligence to identify immune targets and support the design of new immunotherapies.
Among the candidates developed using the platform is EVX-01, an investigational personalized cancer vaccine being studied in advanced melanoma. The company reported three-year follow-up findings from its phase II program around ESMO 2026, including evidence of sustained immune responses and clinical activity.
The award recognizes the underlying technology rather than an approved cancer vaccine, an important distinction as AI-assisted treatment discovery continues to develop.
Dren Bio received the International Prix Galien Award for Best Startup. The biotechnology company is advancing antibody-based treatments for malignancies and other serious diseases, including dibotatug, an investigational CD94-targeting antibody being studied in rare hematologic malignancies.
Its pipeline illustrates continued interest in therapeutic approaches targeting disease-associated immune cell populations.
Together, these recognitions extend the oncology presence at the 2026 awards beyond commercially available treatments to technologies that may contribute to future drug development.
What Do the 2026 Winners Tell Us About the Direction of Oncology?
The range of cancer-related innovations recognized this year is notable.
Pembrolizumab represents the impact of immune checkpoint inhibition across multiple malignancies. Trastuzumab deruxtecan demonstrates how ADC technology can expand the population eligible for targeted treatment. Tebentafusp introduces T-cell receptor-based immunotherapy for a rare cancer with limited options.
Meanwhile, lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan reflects the growing integration of molecular imaging and targeted radiation, while revumenib highlights the role of molecularly defined therapies in hematologic malignancies.
Guardant Health’s Shield shifts the discussion toward early detection and participation in cancer screening, while AI-supported discovery platforms point toward potential future innovations.
These advances also bring practical challenges. Their clinical impact depends on access to biomarkers and diagnostic testing, appropriate patient selection, long-term safety monitoring, treatment availability and affordability.
The Prix Galien Awards recognize scientific and technological innovation, but whether these developments translate into better outcomes across different healthcare systems remains an important question for oncology.
About the Prix Galien Awards
The Prix Galien was established in France in 1970 by pharmacist Roland Mehl and named in honor of Galen of Pergamon, the ancient physician whose work influenced the development of medicine and pharmacology.
Often described as the biopharmaceutical industry’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, the awards recognize achievements in pharmaceutical research, biotechnology, medical technology and healthcare innovation.
The International Prix Galien Awards were established in 1990 and are presented every two years, bringing together innovations that have previously received national Prix Galien recognition.
The Prix Galien USA Awards, which celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2026, recognize innovations across several categories, including biotechnology, pharmaceutical products, rare diseases, medical technology and digital health.
The awards are selected by scientific committees comprising internationally recognized researchers, clinicians and healthcare leaders, including Nobel laureates.
This year’s ceremony also introduced the Prix Galien Patient First Awards, recognizing initiatives aimed at improving patient engagement and participation in healthcare innovation.
For oncology, the 2026 winners represent more than a collection of successful therapies and technologies. They reflect the increasing diversity of approaches being used to prevent, identify, and treat cancer—and the continuing movement toward more biomarker-driven, personalized, and multidisciplinary care.
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