Akeso Enrolls First Patient in Global Phase III Gastric Cancer Trial
Hong Kong – September 27, 2026 -- Akeso, Inc. (9926.HK) has enrolled the first patient in COMPASSION-37, a global Phase III head-to-head trial testing its bispecific antibody cadonilimab against nivolumab as first-line treatment for HER2-negative advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) adenocarcinoma.
Trial pits cadonilimab plus chemotherapy against nivolumab-based standard of care
The multicenter study compares cadonilimab combined with chemotherapy to chemotherapy with or without nivolumab in previously untreated, unresectable or metastatic G/GEJ patients. It is co-led by Dr. Yelena Y. Janjigian of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Professor Markus Möhler of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Professors Jiafu Ji and Lin Shen of Peking University Cancer Hospital. Janjigian, Möhler and Shen were investigators on the earlier CheckMate 649 trial, which established nivolumab plus chemotherapy as a global first-line standard.