Pyxis Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYXS), a clinical-stage company developing next-generation therapeutics for difficult-to-treat cancers, today announced that it will present new preclinical data highlighting that a mouse analogue of MICVO (maMICVO) demonstrates anti-tumor activity in a preclinical head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) model as monotherapy, and synergistic anti-tumor activity in combination with anti-mouse PD-1. These data will be presented in a poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego, California, held April 17 – April 22, 2026.

"These new preclinical data are particularly compelling as they further reinforce MICVO's clinical development in HNSCC, both as a novel monotherapy treatment and in combination with anti-PD-1," said Tom Civik, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director of Pyxis Oncology. "An important finding from the data is that combination treatment with maMICVO and anti-mouse PD-1 demonstrated synergistic anti-tumor activity and greater tumor control than either treatment alone in an immunotherapy-refractory preclinical HNSCC model, highlighting MICVO's novel three-pronged mechanism of action and its potential to meaningfully enhance response to immunotherapy. Following our mid-year 2026 MICVO Phase 1 monotherapy update in 2L+ R/M HNSCC, we look forward to sharing updated data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 combination dose escalation study of MICVO in combination with pembrolizumab for 1L/2L+ R/M HNSCC patients in the second half of 2026."

Micvotabart pelidotin (MICVO), is a first-in-concept antibody drug conjugate (ADC) that targets extradomain-B of fibronectin (EDB+FN), a non-cellular structural component of the tumor extracellular matrix (ECM). MICVO is designed to treat solid tumors through a three-pronged mechanism of action: direct cancer cell killing, bystander effect and immunogenic cell death. MICVO is currently being evaluated as monotherapy in a Phase 1 clinical study in patients with recurrent and metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) and in combination with Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with R/M HNSCC and other solid tumors.