Parker Institute Showcases Breakthroughs in Immunotherapy at ASCO 2025 as CEO Dr. Karen Knudsen Receives Prestigious Honor
PICI's presence spans more than 50 presentations including 16 oral sessions, 30+ poster sessions, 10 e-papers and a featured clinical science symposium. This volume reflects not only the strength of the PICI network but also a unique ability to support promising work early and help carry it across the finish line, from foundational discoveries to practice-changing trials.
Glioblastoma Breakthroughs: New Hope for Cancer's Most Formidable Challenge
After decades of limited progress in glioblastoma, where median survival has hovered around one year, multiple PICI-supported teams are reporting clinical responses that suggest the field may be turning a corner. These advances demonstrate how collaboration, persistence and innovation can converge on even the most intractable problems:
Stanford Medicine researchers achieved median overall survival of 14.6 months in recurrent glioblastoma patients using B7H3 CAR T cells delivered directly to the brain via dual Ommaya reservoirs. The Phase 1 study established a recommended Phase 2 dose and demonstrated manageable inflammation using IL-1 blockade, offering a tangible advance in a cancer where meaningful clinical progress has long remained elusive. (Crystal Mackall, MD, Director of the PICI Center at Stanford; Michelle Monje, MD, PhD — Abstract #2018)
University of Pennsylvania investigators reported tumor shrinkage in 85% of evaluable patients using bivalent CAR T-cell therapy targeting EGFR and IL13Rα2 in recurrent glioblastoma. Delivered into the cerebroventricular space without lymphodepletion, the engineered T cells persisted in cerebrospinal fluid and blood for up to one year, marking an encouraging step toward sustained response and long-term disease management. (Carl June, MD, Director of the PICI Center at Penn; Donald O'Rourke, MD — Abstract #102)
UCSF and Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers identified more than 700 glioma-specific, splice-derived neoantigens using the SNIPP antigen discovery platform. These targets elicited CD8+ T-cell responses in vitro and many were conserved across tumors, opening the door to scalable, potentially off-the-shelf TCR-based therapies. (Hideho Okada, MD, PhD, UCSF — Abstract #2519)
Leadership Recognition: PICI CEO Receives ASCO's Highest Honor
Dr. Karen Knudsen, PICI's CEO, will receive the Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award during ASCO's opening session, recognizing a career spent building bridges from bench to patient and helping reshape how academic institutions, nonprofits and companies move from insight to implementation. Saturday, May 31, 9:45 AM–12:00 PM CDT, Room N - Hall B1
Dr. Knudsen will also join Endpoints News for a live discussion on research acceleration, regulatory pace and how PICI's model aligns research, policy and investment with the realities facing patients today. Wednesday, June 4, 10:35 AM CDT, Endpoints Stage
Network-Wide Impact: Where Discovery Meets Delivery
PICI-supported science appears across the ASCO agenda, tackling critical questions in high-burden cancers through studies connected by a framework that enables speed, coordination and clinical relevance. These presentations reflect a hallmark of the PICI approach: compressing the distance between new insight and patient impact, often turning early-stage ideas into clinical action within just a few years.
Melanoma Advances
DREAMseq Final Results: Optimal treatment sequencing in BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma (Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell; Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, UCLA — Abstract #9506)
Quadruple Immunotherapy: IL-6 blockade combined with checkpoint inhibitors in advanced melanoma (F. Stephen Hodi, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #9510)
Neoadjuvant Strategy: Pembrolizumab in clinical stage IIB/C melanoma (Alexander Huang, MD, University of Pennsylvania — Abstract #9502)
Prostate Cancer Innovation
COMRADE Trial: Olaparib plus radium-223 in castration-resistant prostate cancer with bone metastases (Eliezer Van Allen, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #5007)
C3NIRA Trial: Triplet chemo-immunotherapy induction followed by PARP inhibitor maintenance (Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD, MD Anderson — Abstract #5008)
Breast and Lung Cancer Precision Strategies
NeoSTAR Trial: Response-guided neoadjuvant sacituzumab govitecan plus pembrolizumab in early triple-negative breast cancer (Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #511)
ADRIATIC Correlatives: Genomic analysis of long-term responders in limited-stage small cell lung cancer (David Barbie, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #8014)
Translational Platforms
INCIPIENT Trial: CARv3-TEAM-E immunological correlates in recurrent glioblastoma (Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital — Abstract #2008)
BRCA1/2 DNA Vaccines: Plasmid-based immunotherapy platform with and without IL-12 (Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, University of Pennsylvania — Abstract #10505)
About the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) accelerates breakthrough immune therapies from discovery to patient impact through a collaborative network of the nation's top cancer centers. Founded in 2016 through the vision of Sean Parker, PICI unites leading institutions in a translational engine built for speed, coordination and clinical relevance. Unlike traditional research models, PICI goes beyond discovery by actively advancing promising innovations through clinical testing, company formation, incubation and commercialization.
PICI supports high-risk, high-reward science with shared goals, data and infrastructure, helping compress timelines from laboratory discovery to patient access. The institute has supported more than 1,000 investigators across its network and created a portfolio of 17 biotech ventures with over $4 billion in raised capital. By integrating scientific excellence with entrepreneurial execution, PICI is reimagining how cures are made and accelerating their path to the people who need them most.
Learn more at parkerici.org. Follow #PICIatASCO for updates throughout the meeting.
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Business Wire
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In recognition of the evolving macroeconomic environment and the importance of preserving capital, Bicycle Therapeutics is implementing a workforce reduction and taking other steps to optimize its operations and extend the company's expected financial runway. These strategic cost realignment efforts are being implemented to prioritize potentially high-impact, value-generating programs, which include the advancement of zelenectide pevedotin, BT5528, next-generation Bicycle ® Drug Conjugates and the company's wholly owned pipeline of Bicycle ® Radioconjugates. Bicycle Therapeutics anticipates total operational savings of approximately 30% over the course of the financial runway period. These actions are expected to extend the financial runway into 2028 and strengthen the company's ability to weather continued market uncertainty as it advances clinical programs through key milestones. About Bicycle Therapeutics Bicycle Therapeutics is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing a novel class of medicines, referred to as Bicycle ® molecules, for diseases that are underserved by existing therapeutics. Bicycle molecules are fully synthetic short peptides constrained with small molecule scaffolds to form two loops that stabilize their structural geometry. This constraint facilitates target binding with high affinity and selectivity, making Bicycle molecules attractive candidates for drug development. The company is evaluating zelenectide pevedotin (formerly BT8009), a Bicycle ® Drug Conjugate (BDC ®) targeting Nectin-4, a well-validated tumor antigen; BT5528, a BDC molecule targeting EphA2, a historically undruggable target; and BT7480, a Bicycle Tumor-Targeted Immune Cell Agonist ® (Bicycle TICA ®) targeting Nectin-4 and agonizing CD137, in company-sponsored clinical trials. 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Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the validation of MT1-MMP as a cancer target and BRC molecules having positive properties for radiopharmaceutical imaging; the initiation of new clinical trials, the progress of Bicycle's ongoing clinical trials and the timing of EphA2 human imaging data and updates on dose selection in the Duravelo-2 clinical trial and accelerated approval pathway; the outcome of Bicycle's strategic cost realignment efforts and Bicycle's expected financial runway; and the use of Bicycle Therapeutics' technology through various partnerships to develop therapies for diseases beyond oncology. Bicycle Therapeutics may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including: uncertainties inherent in research and development and in the initiation, progress and completion of clinical trials and clinical development of Bicycle Therapeutics' product candidates; the risk that Bicycle Therapeutics may not realize the intended benefits of its cost realignment efforts; the risk that Bicycle's projections regarding its expected cash runway are inaccurate or that its conduct of its business requires more cash than anticipated; and other important factors, any of which could cause Bicycle Therapeutics' actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, are described in greater detail in the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in Bicycle Therapeutics' Annual Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 1, 2025, as well as in other filings Bicycle Therapeutics may make with the SEC in the future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Bicycle Therapeutics expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether because of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. Balance Sheets Data (In thousands) (Unaudited) June 30, December 31, 2025 2024 Cash and cash equivalents $ 721,451 $ 879,520 Working capital 726,840 861,375 Total assets 832,184 956,868 Total shareholders' equity 668,915 793,060 Expand
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