Clinical Trials Round-Up: May and June 2026

Welcome to the third edition of the pharmaphorum Clinical Trials Round-Up for 2026.

May and June delivered a plethora of clinical trial updates. In the build-up to ASCO in June, our inbox was overflowing with oncology trial results, both promising and disappointing, in addition to near-daily announcements from the obesity space. In short, it was a very busy time for the pharmaphorum team.

As always, we strive to bring you the most impactful headlines, so you may have seen stories covering AstraZeneca’s three-drug regimen incorporating Imfinzi and Imjudo, Revolution Medicines' p0an-RAS(on) inhibitor daraxonrasib grand slam, or results from Eli Lilly’s LIBRETTO-432 trial presented at ASCO. Sadly, we can’t give every trial update that hits our inbox the same attention.

But we still want to bring you prominent developments from May and June. And so, we have collated this edition of our clinical trial round-up to showcase some of the stories that didn’t make headline news.

Cardiometabolic medicine

Obesity research has moved on remarkably quickly since our April/May round-up. While weight loss remains the headline focus, increasingly, researchers have been treating it as just one part of a much broader biological picture.

In June, Boehringer Ingelheim illustrated this changing mindset in the latest analyses from the Phase III SYNCHRONIZE programme, evaluating the glucagon/GLP-1 dual agonist survodutide. Building upon previously reported topline results, which showed average weight loss of up to 16.6% after 76 weeks, newly presented imaging data provided a more nuanced view of where that weight was being lost. Pre-specified imaging analyses showed reductions in visceral fat of up to 34%, while limiting lean mass loss to little more than one-tenth of total tissue reduction. Liver fat was also reduced by more than 60%, reinforcing the hypothesis that glucagon agonism may provide metabolic benefits extending beyond appetite suppression alone.

Those findings were complemented by positive Phase III results from SYNCHRONIZE-MASLD, in which survodutide met both co-primary endpoints in adults with obesity or overweight and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Alongside double-digit weight loss, more than 80% of treated participants achieved at least a 30% reduction in liver fat, while around six in ten reached normalisation of hepatic fat content after 48 weeks. Improvements across liver-related biomarkers reinforced the biological rationale for positioning the therapy within the broader spectrum of metabolic disease, rather than obesity alone.

Long-term evidence also featured prominently in cardiovascular medicine. Edwards Lifesciences presented 10-year follow-up data from its pivotal COMMENCE aortic valve trial, demonstrating sustained durability of surgical bioprosthetic valves incorporating its RESILIA tissue technology. Freedom from structural valve deterioration remained close to 98%, accompanied by similarly durable haemodynamic performance and low rates of valve-related reoperation.

ASCO and oncology

It was no surprise that oncology announcements dominated the clinical trials space across May and June as companies timed data releases to coincide with this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

One of the most noteworthy updates during this period came from Incyte's Phase III frontMIND study, which evaluated the addition of tafasitamab and lenalidomide to R-CHOP in previously untreated high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and high-grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL). Results of the study, presented during the plenary session at the European Haematology Association Congress and published simultaneously in The Lancet, demonstrated a 25% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared with standard R-CHOP alone, while improvements in minimal residual disease negativity and encouraging early overall survival trends strengthened the case for the combination becoming a future first-line option.

Multiple myeloma produced similarly encouraging late-stage data. In May, Johnson & Johnson reported positive Phase III results from the MajesTEC-9 trial evaluating teclistamab in patients with relapsed or refractory disease after one to three prior lines of therapy. Compared with current standard-of-care regimens, study results showed that teclistamab reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 71% while also delivering a 40% reduction in mortality risk. Nearly two-thirds of treated patients achieved a complete response or better.

Although infections and cytokine release syndrome remained important safety considerations, the overall adverse event profile was consistent with previous experience and generally manageable.

Beyond these registrational programmes, several earlier-phase studies highlighted the diversity of innovation still emerging across oncology. In June, Biomica – a subsidiary of Evogene – completed first-in-human testing of its live bacterial therapeutic BMC128 in combination with nivolumab.

Although involving only 11 patients, the Phase I study successfully met its primary objective by demonstrating favourable safety and tolerability without dose-limiting toxicities. Moreover, five patients achieved prolonged stable disease, one experienced a partial response, and translational analyses demonstrated increases in microbiome diversity, together with biological signatures consistent with immune activation.

Targeted radiopharmaceuticals also continued to gather momentum during May and June, as evidenced by the Swedish biotechnology company Akiram Therapeutics, which progressed its Phase I evaluation of ^177Lu-AKIR001 into a third dose-escalation cohort after continued demonstration of favourable safety and selective tumour uptake.

Elsewhere, Ferring Pharmaceuticals presented a retrospective case series examining re-induction with the intravesical gene therapy ADSTILADRIN in patients with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer who had failed to achieve a complete response after initial treatment.

Approximately one-third of these initial non-responders subsequently achieved complete responses following a second induction course, suggesting that retreatment may provide meaningful benefit for selected patients outside the rigid protocols typically employed in registrational clinical trials.

Women's health

Innovation in women's health was characterised less by novel pharmacology than by attempts to improve how established therapies are delivered.

In May, Calla Lily Clinical Care dosed the first patients in the FREEDOM study evaluating Callavid, an intravaginal progesterone delivery platform designed for women with luteal phase insufficiency and threatened miscarriage. Current vaginal progesterone formulations are frequently associated with leakage, inconsistent positioning, and variable drug absorption – factors that can affect both adherence and patient confidence during an already stressful period.

The NIHR-funded, first-in-human FREEDOM study will evaluate safety, progesterone absorption, and user acceptability in women with luteal phase insufficiency, while also generating early evidence for the wider Callavid platform. Should the technology prove successful, its potential applications extend beyond threatened miscarriage to include luteal phase support during assisted reproductive technologies such as IVF, where progesterone administration remains a routine part of treatment.

Neuroscience and respiratory medicine

Beyond oncology and metabolic disease, May and June highlighted a growing commitment to developing therapies that intervene earlier in disease biology, particularly where treatment options remain limited.

In June, CONNECTA Therapeutics – a clinical-stage biotech company – kicked off its Phase IIa study of CTH120 in adult males with Fragile X syndrome. The first-in-class small molecule targets tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB), a central regulator of neuroplasticity that is disrupted in Fragile X syndrome. Following favourable Phase I safety findings, the randomised, double‑blind, placebo-controlled study will assess safety, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary efficacy in 30 adult males aged 18-45, while also contributing to biomarker research aimed at better characterising disease biology and treatment response.

Respiratory medicine offered a different perspective on innovation, emphasising durability, rather than novelty. Long-term pooled Phase II data for Boehringer Ingelheim's dipeptidyl peptidase-1 (DPP1) inhibitor verducatib demonstrated sustained reductions in pulmonary exacerbations over three years in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. The analysis showed that the 2.5 mg dose was associated with a lower risk of first pulmonary exacerbation and a reduction in the annualised rate of exacerbations, while continuing to support inhibition of neutrophilic inflammation as a promising therapeutic strategy in bronchiectasis.

What it all means: Five themes to watch

1. Combination therapy remains oncology's preferred route to progress

Rather than replacing established standards of care, developers are increasingly building upon them. Whether through adding monoclonal antibodies to R-CHOP in lymphoma, moving bispecific antibodies into earlier lines of multiple myeloma, or combining microbiome therapeutics with immune checkpoint inhibitors, the strategy is becoming one of incremental, clinically meaningful, improvement.

2. Metabolic medicine is rapidly expanding beyond body weight

Obesity is increasingly being viewed as one manifestation of broader metabolic dysfunction, rather than an isolated disease. The survodutide programme demonstrates how this shift is materialising in practice, with visceral adiposity, hepatic fat content, and organ-specific metabolic outcomes increasingly shaping both trial design and clinical expectations, suggesting that future therapies will be judged on their ability to modify disease across multiple organ systems, in addition to reducing body weight.

3. Innovation is extending beyond new molecules

Some of the more interesting studies during May and June were not centred on discovering new drugs. Callavid sought to improve progesterone delivery for women at risk of miscarriage, while long-term follow-up from Edwards Lifesciences highlighted the continued importance of device innovation and durable clinical evidence. Together, these programmes illustrate that meaningful advances in patient care can come through better delivery technologies, procedural improvements, and optimisation of existing therapies.

4. Earlier intervention continues to reshape development strategies

Several early-stage programmes paired clinical observations with translational science designed to explain how therapies exert their effects. Notably, Biomica reported microbiome and immune activation data alongside its first-in-human study, while CONNECTA's Fragile X programme incorporates biomarker development from the outset. As investment decisions increasingly hinge on biological proof of concept, as well as safety, mechanistic validation is becoming a defining feature of modern early-phase development.

5. Long-term evidence is becoming a competitive asset

Ten-year durability data in structural heart disease, three-year respiratory outcomes, and extended oncology follow-up all underline an important shift in evidence generation. Demonstrating durable benefit is becoming increasingly important as healthcare systems weigh long-term value alongside short-term clinical efficacy.

Editor's note: This round-up is based on company announcements, conference presentations, and published clinical trial data released during May and June 2026. Results remain preliminary unless otherwise stated, and many programmes discussed are in early clinical development and subject to confirmation in larger controlled studies.