Immuneering makes the most of its pancreatic promise

A new mid-stage update with Immuneering’s Mek1/2 inhibitor atebimetinib in first-line pancreatic cancer was enough to spur a chunky fundraising this week. The data show some promise, but come from a small, uncontrolled trial, so will need to be confirmed in a more rigorous study. Immuneering hopes to start phase 3 by the end of the year, testing atebimetinib plus gemcitabine and Abraxane (GnP), after on Wednesday reported phase 2 data with the same combo, touting nine-month overall and progression-free survival rates of 86% and 53% respectively. The group noted that GnP alone had produced corresponding rates of 47% and 29% in the MPACT trial. An earlier analysis found an ORR of 39% with atebimetinib plus GnP, which looks favourable against MPACT; however, another trial, Napoli-3, found a similar 36% ORR with GnP. Median PFS and OS will be the real test, and data here are still immature. Atebimetinib might also have to contend with Revolution Medicines, which recently reported an ORR of 55% with its pan-RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib plus GnP, and also has pivotal plans. Despite these caveats, Immuneering has pulled off a large fund raising, comprising a $175m public offering and a $25m private placement with Sanofi.

Cross-trial comparison in first-line pancreatic cancer

Notes: *cutoff date 26 Aug 2025; **extrapolated from MPACT curves; ^from 17 Jun update, cutoff date 26 May 2025. GnP=gemcitabine plus Abraxane. Source: company release.