AACR 2026 — the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in April — produced a heavy load of peptide-related abstracts. The conference is the central venue for peptide-drug conjugates, peptide cancer vaccines, neoantigen platforms, and PRRT-style radioligand therapies.
Notable threads from this site's coverage: Bicycle Therapeutics' BT5528 in EphA2-positive solid tumors; CID-078 (a cyclin-targeted bicyclic peptide) in RB1-deficient tumors; ELI-002 amphiphile-peptide and EVX-01 in cancer-vaccine sessions; new peptide-drug conjugate work from Merck, AstraZeneca, and Avacta; Verismo Therapeutics' KIR-CAR program; and an opening plenary on AI-designed cyclic peptides hitting undruggable intracellular targets.
Use this tag to scan AACR readouts as they appear. For deeper threads, see #peptide-vaccine, #peptide-drug-conjugate, and #bicycle-therapeutics.
Molecular Partners presents three posters at AACR 2026 announcing MP0632 as the first logic-gated Switch-DARPin T-cell engager candidate, targeting MSLN/EpCAM-expressing solid tumors. MP0632 showed tumor regression in dual-antigen preclinical models with limited activity on single-antigen tumors, supporting a favorable therapeutic window. The company also presented updated data for Radio-DARPin MP0712, currently in a US Phase 1/2a trial for DLL3-expressing tumors.
Leukogene Therapeutics presents two posters at AACR 2026 showcasing its proprietary M2T platform, designed to harness MHC class II-engaging mechanisms to redirect immune response against acute myeloid leukemia and pancreatic cancer. CEO Sandeep Gupta framed the platform as targeting two of the most lethal and treatment-resistant cancers. Posters appear in the Bi- and Tri-Specific Antibody Therapies session on April 21.
Cogent Biosciences presents preclinical data for its novel pan-KRAS(ON) inhibitor CGT1263 and selective ErbB2 inhibitor CGT4255 at AACR 2026. CGT1263 shows best-in-class cellular potency with a kinase selectivity advantage that could mitigate skin toxicity plaguing multi-RAS inhibitors. CGT4255 is designed with best-in-class CNS penetration to address HER2+ brain metastases, with preclinical synergy data with a HER2 ADC suggesting re-sensitization after ADC resistance.
Verismo Therapeutics announced a $28 million investment from HLB Innovation to accelerate clinical development of its KIR-CAR platform, timed to the company's first-ever presentation of SynKIR-110 Phase 1 (STAR-101) multi-chain KIR-CAR clinical data in the AACR 2026 Late-Breaking Clinical Trials plenary (April 20). Verismo is a Penn/Carl June spinout using a modified NK-cell-derived receptor and DAP12 pairing to improve T-cell persistence.
Circle Pharma presents "Orally Bioavailable Peptide Macrocycles Disrupting Intracellular Protein-Protein Interactions: Selective Inhibitors of the RxL-binding Site of Cyclin Family Proteins" at AACR's Chemistry to the Clinic Part 3 session on Saturday, April 18, 12:30-2:00 p.m. PST. The presentation covers CID-078, an orally bioavailable macrocycle with dual activity blocking cyclin A/B protein-protein interactions, selectively targeting tumor cells with RB1 alterations.
Oncopeptides AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: ONCO) will present preclinical data on its SPiKE platform at AACR 2026, showing synergistic effects when combining an affibody-derived bispecific engager with expanded adaptive NK cells (ADAPT-NK) in a humanized multiple myeloma mouse model. The approach leverages peptide-scaffold targeting to direct NK-cell cytotoxicity at malignant plasma cells in difficult-to-treat cancers.
ApexOnco analysis frames AACR 2026 as a breakout moment for private peptide-based biotechs. Circle Pharma (macrocyclic peptides), Bicycle Therapeutics (bicyclic peptide drug conjugates), and SignaBlok (TREM-1 peptide) all landed prominent slots. Antibody-drug and peptide-drug conjugates remain the dominant theme, with conjugate-related abstracts outpacing any other modality in the clinical late-breaker sessions.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026 opens April 17 at the San Diego Convention Center, running through April 22 with 9,500+ sessions, 575 clinical abstracts, 56 clinical trial plenary talks, and 393 late-breaking posters. Multiple peptide biotechs — including Bicycle Therapeutics, Circle Pharma, SignaBlok, and Oncolytics Biotech — are presenting new clinical and preclinical data on macrocyclic peptides, bicyclic peptide drug conjugates, and peptide-based immunotherapies.
Bicycle Therapeutics will present Phase 1/2 clinical results for BT5528 (nuzefatide pevedotin), an EphA2-targeting Bicycle Drug Conjugate, in combination with nivolumab in patients with advanced solid tumors at AACR 2026. Additional preclinical posters cover BT5528 activity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma xenograft models, plus a novel phage-display-derived bicyclic peptide for EphA2-specific PET imaging.
Circle Pharma secured a coveted oral plenary slot at AACR 2026 to present early Phase 1 clinical activity data for CID-078, a first-in-class orally bioavailable macrocyclic peptide cyclin A/B RxL inhibitor for patients with advanced solid tumors harboring RB1 alterations. The plenary (Sunday, April 19) validates macrocyclic peptides as viable oral oncology drugs — a major milestone for the modality.