From the Plenary to the Patient

Three ASCO targets — RAS, ALK, CD123. Diagnostics that moved out of the clinic.

⚡ Quick Hits

💰 Money Moves

Bristol Myers Squibb + Anthropic — largest enterprise pharma-AI deployment to date (May 20) — BMS deploys Claude Enterprise across 30,000+ employees worldwide. Agentic AI embedded into research, clinical development, manufacturing, and commercial workflows. BMS calls it an “intelligence layer,” not a chatbot.

👉 Why it matters: The structural counterpart to Isomorphic Labs’ $2.1B raise (Issue 7). Two paths to the same destination — AI built from scratch vs. retrofitted into pharma. BMS →

⌚ On the Wrist

Microneedle continuous biomarker patches advance — Multiple 2026 peer-reviewed papers show hollow-microneedle arrays sampling interstitial fluid painlessly, with electrochemical sensors reading proteins (IgG), ions, and steroids (cortisol) in real time. Where CGMs measure glucose today, these patches could continuously read protein and steroid biomarkers tomorrow.

👉 Why it matters: The natural next layer after at-home blood draws (Noom, below). Episodic → continuous = product → platform. Extends the wrist-as-clinical-signal thread from Issues 5–7. Frontiers →

🤖 AI Watch

Roche launches Liver Disease Panel with CE-marked LiverPRO algorithm (with Evido) (May 27) — Fibrosis-risk stratification from age + three of nine common blood biomarkers. Designed for population-scale screening of the ~1.5 billion people with chronic liver disease, most undiagnosed until cirrhosis.

👉 Why it matters: An algorithm running on routine labs converts primary-care data into actionable risk stratification — and feeds Roche’s MASH therapeutic pipeline. Whichever company owns the test owns the funnel. Roche →

🏥 Care Delivery

Noom launches $125 at-home Biomarkers Test Kit (May 27) — 17 biomarkers (HbA1c, ApoB, Lp(a), hs-CRP, vitamin D, hormones) via the Tasso+ painless skin-pinch device. CLIA-CAP lab analysis, results in ~1 week. Early data: 70% of “healthy” cohort had elevated LDL-C; 36% had suboptimal HbA1c.

👉 Why it matters: “Lab to living room” is now a $125 commodity. The move isn’t the test — it’s the loop: test → result → coaching → GLP-1 → retest. Continues the Lilly + Omada GLP-1 arc from Issue 6, now consumer-grade. Noom →

💊 Pharma & Diagnostics Corner

ASCO 2026 — Three Targets, Three Tumors

The 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting (Chicago, May 29 – June 2) produced three landmark targeted-therapy stories in one week. All three share the same architecture: a specific molecular target, validated by a diagnostic, delivering survival benefits that reset what was previously possible.

The ASCO 2026 landscape — by tumor type

Ten practice-changing readouts, six tumor types, one week. Molecule type and status alongside each result.

Drug / Test	Target	Trial · Indication	Type / Status	Headline result
Lung cancer · 3 trials
Lorlatinib Pfizer →	ALK	CROWN 1L ALK+ NSCLC	Small-molecule oral 7-yr follow-up	55% PFS at 7 yrs vs 3% 94% ↓ brain mets
Ivonescimab + chemo Akeso →	PD-1 / VEGF	HARMONi-6 1L sq-NSCLC	Bispecific antibody Plenary · first China-origin in 61 yrs	OS HR 0.66 (34% ↓ death) vs tislelizumab+chemo The Lancet
Selpercatinib Lilly →	RET fusion	LIBRETTO-432 Adjuvant RET+ NSCLC	Small-molecule oral Indication expansion (adjuvant)	83% ↓ recurrence or death risk
Pancreatic cancer · 1 trial
Daraxonrasib Revolution Med →	RAS G12	RASolute 302 2L metastatic PDAC	Small-molecule oral Plenary · standing ovation	mOS 13.2 vs 6.6 mo 60% ↓ death risk · NEJM
Breast cancer · 1 trial
Prosigna (Veracyte) Veracyte →	50-gene PAM50 ROR	OPTIMA ER+/HER2− early BC, high clinical risk	Genomic test De-escalation evidence	~68% safely skip chemo 5-yr IBCFS 90.4% vs 91.5%
Prostate cancer · 2 trials
Apalutamide + ADT J&J →	Androgen receptor	PROTEUS High-risk localized (peri-op)	Small-molecule oral Indication expansion (peri-op)	pCR 8.9% vs 1.0% 20% ↓ metastasis/death
Talazoparib + enzalutamide Pfizer →	PARP + AR	TALAPRO-3 HRR-mut mCSPC	Small molecule combo Combo expansion	Significantly ↑ rPFS
Gynecologic & sarcoma · 2 trials
Pembrolizumab + chemo NCI →	PD-1	NRG-GY018 Adv/recurrent endometrial	Antibody 4-yr follow-up	Sustained OS benefit any MMR status
Abemaciclib Lilly →	CDK4/6	SARC041 Dedifferentiated liposarcoma	Small-molecule oral Indication expansion (rare)	mPFS 9.7 vs 1.5 mo
Hematologic (ultra-rare) · 1 approval
DECNUPAZ pivekimab sunirine AbbVie →	CD123	CADENZA BPDCN (ultra-rare blood)	ADC Novel FDA approval (May 27)	69.7% CR newly dx 15.7% R/R · outpatient

The pattern across all 10: precise molecular targeting (or genomic selection), each paired with a diagnostic, each delivering durable clinical benefit. Precision oncology, operationalized at scale.

1. Daraxonrasib — pancreatic cancer’s first survival advance in 15 years (Revolution Medicines, ASCO Plenary, May 31) — Phase 3 RASolute 302 in 2L metastatic PDAC: oral daraxonrasib (RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor) vs. chemo. mOS 13.2 vs. 6.6 mo (HR 0.40 — 60% reduction in death risk). Simultaneously in NEJM. Sustained standing ovation.

👉 Why it matters: Pancreatic cancer’s first survival advance in 15 years. RAS was “undruggable” for decades. New 2L standard of care. RAS targeting on track to become a central oncology platform. Revolution →
2. Lorlatinib — unprecedented 7-year PFS in ALK+ NSCLC (Pfizer, ASCO May 29) — 7-year CROWN trial update in 1L ALK+ NSCLC: 55% of lorlatinib patients alive without progression at 7 years vs. 3% on crizotinib. Median PFS still not reached (HR 0.19, 81% reduction). Published in Annals of Oncology.

👉 Why it matters: Unprecedented in advanced NSCLC. A previously fatal subtype is now manageable chronic disease for the majority. Mature precision oncology — one driver, one drug, durable years-long control. Pfizer →
3. DECNUPAZ — first ADC for ultra-rare BPDCN blood cancer (AbbVie, FDA approval May 27) — Pivekimab sunirine-pvzy approved for adults with BPDCN. First CD123-targeted ADC for BPDCN that can be initiated in outpatient setting. CADENZA Ph 1/2: 69.7% CR newly diagnosed; 15.7% R/R. Boxed warning for hepatotoxicity.

👉 Why it matters: Third ADC approval in three weeks — Enhertu (HER2, Issue 6) → Datroway (TROP2, Issue 7) → DECNUPAZ (CD123, this issue). The ADC class is 2026’s most consistent oncology growth engine. AbbVie →

💡 Maria’s Take

Diagnostics, Self-Served

The blood test moved into the living room this week. Noom launched a $125 at-home kit with 17 biomarkers — extending the Lilly + Omada GLP-1 coaching loop from Issue 6 into a consumer product. Forbes published its top-10 self-prescribed list. Microneedle patches advanced. Roche/Evido’s LiverPRO algorithm shipped. The diagnostic layer is being unbundled from the clinic on four fronts at once — visualized in the illustration above.

Four open questions:

1. Who interprets the result?

Self-tests deliver numbers. Interpretation isn’t bundled. A patient inside a behavior-change loop (Noom + GLP-1) gets context. A patient outside one gets a number, an internet search, and anxiety.

2. Cash or coverage?

$125 cash is the new normal for proactive testing. CMS still pays for in-clinic draws on the reactive model. Two-tier diagnostics is forming — cash for early detection, insurance for sick care. The people who need prevention most can’t afford the cash tier.

3. Is the test the product, or the front door?

Noom isn’t selling tests. It’s selling the loop: test → result → coaching → GLP-1 → retest. Roche/Evido’s LiverPRO routes patients toward Roche’s MASH pipeline. Whichever company owns the test owns the funnel.

4. Episodic or continuous?

Today’s at-home tests are snapshots. Tomorrow’s microneedle patches read continuously. Episodic → continuous is the same shift that turned fitness trackers into wearable diagnostics (Issue 7). Whoever holds the resulting longitudinal data layer holds the next decade’s biggest moat in healthcare.

The diagnostic layer is being rebuilt as a consumer product. Convenient for early detection, complicated for everything in between. The strategic question isn’t whether to bet on at-home diagnostics — it’s which loop you want to be inside of when the result comes back.

📚 One Resource Worth Reading

Best At-Home Blood Testing Services Of 2026 — Forbes Health. Editor-vetted roundup of consumer-grade blood testing services — what each tests for, accuracy, turnaround, and price. Pairs directly with the Noom story above. Read the roundup →

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