Corbus Pharmaceuticals NASDAQ: CRBP Chief Executive Officer Yuval Cohen said investors should expect more mature clinical updates for CRB-701 at the upcoming ASCO meeting, including the first durability and progression-free survival data for the company’s highlighted cervical and head and neck cancer cohorts.
Speaking at an RBC Capital Markets event, Cohen said the ASCO abstracts, scheduled to be released ahead of the meeting, would not contain new data because they were based on a September data cut previously reflected in ESMO materials. He said the ASCO presentation will use an April 2026 data cut.
“The abstract’s gonna be a little bit boring, but ASCO hopefully will not be boring,” Cohen said.
CRB-701 ASCO Updates to Focus on Cervical and Head and Neck Cancer
Cohen said Corbus will present an oral presentation on cervical cancer data on the Friday of ASCO, a poster on head and neck cancer data on Saturday, and a key opinion leader event on Monday focused on a post-meeting analysis of the head and neck data.
According to Cohen, the ASCO updates will primarily build on the ESMO data with additional patients. He said investors should expect confirmed objective response rates in both cervical and head and neck cancer, noting that responses shown at ESMO as confirmed and unconfirmed should now be confirmed.
He also said ASCO will provide the first reported duration of response and progression-free survival data for those cohorts. “At ASCO, you’ll see for the first time ever both DOR and PFS,” Cohen said, adding that the data remain “still growing” and “still evolving.”
In head and neck cancer, Cohen said Corbus has gone back to review biopsies and historical biopsies to determine HPV status and anatomical classification for most patients. At ESMO, he said, HPV status was unknown for about 60% of patients.
Cohen said that stratification will help define the company’s development path, including whether CRB-701 should be studied broadly in all patients or focused on a subset such as HPV-positive or oropharyngeal disease. He said head and neck cancer is rich in Nectin-4, but literature suggests oropharyngeal disease may be particularly Nectin-4 enriched, drawing a potential comparison to cervical cancer, which is also HPV driven and Nectin-4 enriched.
Company Sees ASCO as Informative for Registrational Design
RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian asked about Corbus’ stated plan for CRB-701 in second-line head and neck cancer, including a single randomized study against physician’s choice with objective response rate as an accelerated approval endpoint.
Cohen said ASCO should clarify the target population, which in turn will determine the appropriate physician’s choice comparator. He cited MacroGenics’ second-line monotherapy comparator options of methotrexate, taxane and cetuximab, but said cetuximab is “probably not an option” if the population is HPV-positive or oropharyngeal, because it is not used in that setting.
Corbus has previously said the second-line head and neck study will begin this summer, Cohen said. He added that the company has “a pretty high degree of clarity” and “a high degree of confidence” around its plan.
For cervical cancer, Cohen said the path is simpler because nearly all cervical cancer is HPV driven. He said the physician’s choice comparator would likely be Tivdak or chemotherapy, and that Corbus plans to begin a registrational cervical cancer study next year.
Cohen Discusses Cervical Cancer Differentiation
Asked how CRB-701 could differentiate in cervical cancer, Cohen focused first on safety. He said CRB-701, Tivdak, Elahere and Blenrep all have transient ocular toxicities such as dry eye and keratitis, though he described Blenrep as an “extreme version” of that profile. At ESMO, he said CRB-701 appeared “slightly worse than TIVDAK and slightly better than ELAHERE” on ocular toxicity.
Cohen said Tivdak’s bigger limitations are not primarily ocular toxicity, but peripheral neuropathy, severe skin adverse events and on-target bleeding, which he described as “massively undesirable” in cervical cancer. He also cited Tivdak’s 17% objective response rate.
“Cervical, Brian, feels like one of those tumor types where the incumbent might actually become obsolete,” Cohen said, while noting that Corbus, CSPC and Mabwell have all shown what he described as higher potency in prior data.
Cohen also said early data from a frontline head and neck combination study of CRB-701 plus pembrolizumab are expected early next year. He said typical Phase 1 cohorts include about two dozen patients, and investors should expect response rates rather than durability data at that stage.
CRB-913 Obesity Study Enrollment Complete
Cohen also discussed CRB-913, the company’s CB1 inverse agonist being studied for obesity in the Phase 1B CANYON trial. He said enrollment is complete across about 12 U.S. sites, with the last patient’s first visit on April 10 and the last patient’s last visit expected around Aug. 10.
He said Corbus enrolled faster than expected and plans to report topline data in late summer, followed by a conference presentation if possible.
Cohen said the first focus will be safety, particularly neuropsychiatric events. He contrasted CRB-913 with monlunabant, saying 180 patients who received that drug had 111 neuropsychiatric events. “That is not good,” he said.
On efficacy, Cohen said weight loss is likely because CB1 inverse agonists have historically shown weight loss, but he said the degree remains unknown. He referenced rimonabant as one end of the potential range and otenabant as the more potent end, saying otenabant produced 8% weight loss in four months.
Cohen characterized the CRB-913 readout as “wonderfully binary.” If the drug is ineffective, he said, Corbus would “throw in the towel.” If it is not, he said CRB-913 could become the only CB1 inverse agonist still moving forward and potentially the only non-incretin oral drug that produces weight loss.
Discussing dose selection, Cohen said Corbus believes the 20 mg, 40 mg and 60 mg doses fall within the linear portion of the weight-loss curve, with 20 mg near the lower end and 40 mg in the middle. He said the 150 mg dose previously studied is likely in the flat portion of the S-curve.
Potential Development Paths Include Monotherapy, Combination and Maintenance
Cohen said Corbus needs to speak with strategic partners to understand what development path would be most attractive for CRB-913. Potential uses include monotherapy for patients who are intolerant of or resistant to incretin drugs, combination therapy with oral agents such as orforglipron, or maintenance therapy after patients lose weight on injectable incretin drugs.
In a maintenance scenario, Cohen said patients could take an oral pill long term to preserve weight loss already achieved, comparing the concept to taking a statin or proton pump inhibitor.
About Corbus Pharmaceuticals NASDAQ: CRBP
Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of therapeutic candidates for rare, life-threatening inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. The company's lead investigational therapy, lenabasum, is a synthetic, oral cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) agonist designed to resolve chronic inflammation by harnessing the body's innate resolution pathways. Corbus operates by advancing small-molecule compounds through preclinical and clinical studies to address unmet medical needs in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.
Lenabasum is currently under evaluation in a Phase 3 clinical trial for diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) and in a Phase 2 study for cystic fibrosis–related inflammation.
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