• First study combining botensilimab (BOT) and balstilimab (BAL) with agenT-797 in gastroesophageal cancer shows disease control rate (DCR) of 77% in patients and long-term survival beyond 20 months in a subset of heavily pretreated patients
  • Induction strategy linked to improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and higher survival rates at 12 and 18 months, supported by evidence of immune activation and tumor reprogramming

Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN), a leader in immuno-oncology innovation, today announced data from an investigator-initiated Phase II trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, investigating botensilimab (BOT) and balstilimab (BAL) in combination with agenT-797, MiNK's allo-iNKT cell therapy, ramucirumab and paclitaxel in patients with advanced PD-1 refractory gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. The data are being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, taking place April 17-22, 2026, in San Diego, CA.

This Phase II trial, which is the first to combine BOT and BAL with agenT-797 in patients with gastroesophageal cancer who progressed after frontline therapy, was designed to explore the role of immune priming and treatment sequencing. Patients received induction with agenT-797 (alone or plus BOT/BAL) followed by the full combination regimen, or initiated the combination without induction, with longitudinal biomarker sampling throughout. In this study (n=17), the regimen delivered a 77% DCR with long-term survival beyond 20 months in a subset, and the induction arm showed meaningful gains in PFS (6.9 vs. 3.5 months; HR 0.19; p=0.015) and OS (9.5 vs. 5.2 months), with 43% of induction-treated patients alive at both 12 and 18 months—underscoring that durability and survival may be the most clinically relevant endpoints in this PD-1 refractory population.

"These findings illustrate the mechanistic synergy of agenT-797 with botensilimab and balstilimab in this PD-1 refractory setting," said Dhan Chand, Ph.D., Vice President of Research at Agenus. "The induction approach promoted significant intratumoral infiltration of T cells and dendritic cells, the formation of organized tertiary lymphoid structures in on-treatment biopsy tissue from a patient with durable benefit, and activation of peripheral CD4 and CD8 T-cell populations. These changes are consistent with immune priming and tumor immune reprogramming, providing a biological rationale for the improved progression-free survival observed with the induction strategy."