Strategic collaborations and financing events in February 2026 illustrate how oncology programs are being de-risked: early clinical signals paired with large-pharma participation and extended cash runways.
Vir Biotechnology and Astellas Pharma announced a global strategic collaboration to develop and commercialize VIR-5500, an investigational therapy for prostate cancer. Under the disclosed terms, Vir is set to receive $335 million in upfront and near-term payments (including $240 million in cash, $75 million in an equity investment at a 50% premium, and a near-term $20 million milestone), plus eligibility for up to $1.37 billion in additional milestones and tiered double-digit royalties on ex-U.S. net sales. Commercial structure details indicated Astellas will lead U.S. commercialization with Vir retaining an option to co-promote; Astellas will hold exclusive commercialization rights outside the U.S.
VIR-5500 is described as a PSMA-targeting, “dual-masked” CD3 T-cell engager built on Vir’s PRO-XTEN masking approach, intended to remain inactive until reaching the tumor microenvironment to improve therapeutic index. Vir also disclosed updated Phase 1 dose-escalation findings (n=58) in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: no dose-limiting toxicities observed to date, grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events in 12% of patients, and cytokine release syndrome reported in 50% of patients (generally limited to grade 1 fever-only events).
In the ≥3,000 µg/kg every-3-weeks dosing cohorts cited by the company, reported activity included PSA50 declines in 82% and PSA90 declines in 53% of patients, plus RECIST-evaluable objective responses reported as 45% (5/11). Vir’s corporate update projected monotherapy and combination dose-expansion cohorts beginning in the second quarter of 2026 and anticipated pivotal Phase 3 trials in 2027.
In parallel, ALX Oncology reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results and provided a corporate update on February 27, 2026, highlighting development progress across evorpacept (a CD47-targeted approach) and ALX2004 (an EGFR-targeted antibody-drug conjugate).
The company reported $48.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments as of December 31, 2025, and stated that net proceeds of $140.4 million from a February 2026 equity financing extend expected operating runway through the first half of 2028. ALX also framed biomarker work supporting CD47 overexpression as a potential predictor of evorpacept activity (citing exploratory analyses across HER2-positive settings) and outlined upcoming milestones, including ESMO Breast Cancer 2026 poster timing for biomarker analyses and 2H 2026 safety data expectations for the ALX2004 dose-escalation trial.
Context on the mechanism
The CD47–SIRPα axis is widely discussed as a macrophage checkpoint (“don’t eat me” signaling), and peer-reviewed reviews have summarized both the rationale and the limitations of CD47/SIRPα-blocking strategies, including on-target effects such as red blood cell depletion seen with some approaches.
Why this matters in oncology
Vir’s Astellas collaboration shows continued partner appetite for prostate cancer assets that can potentially broaden the applicability of T-cell engager biology into solid tumors—an area often constrained by safety and on-target/off-tumor toxicity. ALX’s financing and runway guidance, paired with a biomarker-driven development narrative in HER2-positive disease settings, reflects how mid-cap oncology developers are trying to sharpen clinical signals and resource allocation in 2026.
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