ASCO Week: Pfizer-Innovent's $10.5B, 12-Program Pact Tops a China-Out Surge; Ivonescimab Beats a PD-1 on Survival

ASCO week (May 29-June 2, Chicago) was dominated by China and Asia out-licensing. Three large outbound deals landed in the window with combined potential value of roughly $14.8B and about $812M in combined upfront and near-term cash. Pfizer's up-to-$10.5B, 12-program collaboration with Innovent Biologics was the largest, while Eli Lilly signed two additional Asia-out deals - a multi-program discovery collaboration with China's Haisco and a worldwide ex-Korea license to Hanmi's GLP-2 analog sonefpeglutide.

Upfront-to-total ratios remain structurally compressed: Pfizer's $650M upfront to Innovent is about 6% of the $10.5B headline biobuck figure, consistent with the pattern seen across 2026's China-to-West pacts. As in prior weeks, BD professionals should anchor negotiations to near-term cash (upfront plus first-year payments) rather than headline totals, where milestone achievability is the swing variable.

May 31, 2026 - Ivonescimab Beats a PD-1 on Overall Survival in First-Line Squamous NSCLC (HARMONi-6, ASCO Plenary)

Akeso presented Phase 3 HARMONi-6 results at the ASCO 2026 plenary session. The trial enrolled 532 patients with advanced squamous NSCLC and randomized them 1:1 to ivonescimab (a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody) plus chemotherapy versus tislelizumab (a PD-1 monoclonal) plus the same chemotherapy backbone. At a prespecified interim overall-survival analysis (data cutoff February 27, 2026; median follow-up 21.36 months), ivonescimab plus chemotherapy produced a median OS of 27.89 months versus 23.69 months for tislelizumab plus chemotherapy (HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.50-0.87; P=0.0017), with 24-month OS rates of 64.7% versus 48.6%. Median progression-free survival was 11.1 versus 6.9 months (HR 0.60; P<0.0001).

The trial was conducted in China by Akeso; Summit Therapeutics holds rights to ivonescimab in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan and other markets. This is the first head-to-head Phase 3 in which a PD-1/VEGF bispecific demonstrated an overall-survival benefit over a PD-1 monoclonal.

BD Implication: The readout strengthens the PD-1/VEGF bispecific as a distinct licensing category and validates head-to-head-versus-PD-1 trial designs from China-origin sponsors. Holders of differentiated bispecific or VEGF-combination assets should expect elevated buyer interest in this class.

June 1, 2026 - Daraxonrasib Posts the First 12-Month-Plus Median OS in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer (RASolute 302, ASCO Plenary; NEJM)

Revolution Medicines presented pivotal Phase 3 RASolute 302 results at the ASCO 2026 plenary session, with simultaneous publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. In previously-treated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) with RAS mutations, daraxonrasib - an oral, once-daily RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor - produced a median overall survival of 13.2 months versus 6.7 months for chemotherapy (HR 0.40; P<0.0001), roughly a 60% reduction in the risk of death. In the RAS G12 primary-analysis population, 12-month OS was 53.3% versus 18.7%. No prior Phase 3 in metastatic pancreatic cancer had reported median OS beyond one year in any line of therapy.

BD Implication: RAS-targeting is now one of the most contested licensing areas in oncology, and a positive Phase 3 in a notoriously intractable tumor resets valuation expectations for the RAS(ON) / RAS-multi-selective class. Holders of differentiated RAS-pathway assets - including several China-origin KRAS and pan-RAS programs in early development - should expect intensified buyer interest. (See the new KRAS G12V in-licensing mandate in Section 4.)

May 27, 2026 - FDA Approves Decnupaz (pivekimab sunirine-pvzy), the First ADC for BPDCN

The FDA approved AbbVie's Decnupaz (pivekimab sunirine-pvzy), a CD123-directed antibody-drug conjugate, for adults with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) - an ultra-rare, aggressive blood cancer with limited treatment options. It is the first ADC approved in this indication. In the relapsed/refractory BPDCN cohort (N=51), 15.7% of patients achieved a complete response or clinical complete response (CR/CRc) at a median follow-up of 24.1 months; the recommended dose is 0.045 mg/kg IV once every three weeks.

BD Implication: Another ADC approval in a rare hematologic niche reinforces ADCs as the most actively transacted modality of 2026 and extends CD123 as a validated target. Specialty and rare-disease buyers continue to pay premiums for first-in-indication ADC assets.