Context scraps bispecific T-cell engager program to extend cash runway deeper into 2027

Biotech Context scraps bispecific T-cell engager program to extend cash runway deeper into 2027 By Nick Paul Taylor Aug 6, 2026 5:55am Context Therapeutics bispecific antibodies T-cell engagers Oncology Context Therapeutics has stopped development of the bispecific T-cell engager (TCE) CT-95, freeing up cash to extend its runway beyond readouts on its two priority clinical programs. Philadelphia-based Context paid $3.7 million for CT-95 in 2024, bagging an MSLNxCD3 bispecific that Link Immunotherapeutics had taken to the cusp of the clinic. Context dosed the first patient in a phase 1 trial of the drug candidate in April 2025, positioning itself to start showing if the bispecific could treat cancers by redirecting T cells toward malignant cells expressing MSLN.

Context planned to publish interim phase 1a data in September. But with three assets in development and cash falling to $43 million by the end of June, the biotech has pulled the plug on the program before reaching that milestone. CT-95 looked set to race against Amgen’s AMG 305, a TCE targeting CDH3, MSLN and CD3.

Amgen completed a phase 1 trial of its candidate in January, ending enrollment well short of its original target. The big biotech listed (PDF) AMG 305 on its pipeline in March, but the asset is missing (PDF) from the current version. Context will wind down its phase 1 trial of CT-95, freeing itself from the ongoing costs of a program that swallowed up $2.9 million in the first half of 2026.

After dropping CT-95, Context extended its cash runway from mid-2027 to the fourth quarter of 2027. Those extra months could prove important given Context’s calendar of upcoming milestones. The biotech expects initial phase 1a results for its two priority programs—CTIM-76 and CT-202—in the second quarter of 2027.

CTIM-76 is a bispecific TCE aimed at CD3 and CLDN6, an oncology target also called Claudin-6. BeOne Medicines, Third Arc Bio and Xencor are developing CLDN6xCD3 TCEs. Daiichi Sankyo and Torl Biotherapeutics are aiming antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) at CLDN6, while BioNTech terminated a phase 2 trial of a CAR-T cell therapy directed at the receptor.

CT-202 is a bispecific TCE targeting Nectin-4 and CD3. As in CLDN6, Context faces competition, with Pfizer’s Nectin-4-directed ADC, Padcev, already approved and companies including Eli Lilly working on assets aimed at the target. Context expects to dose the first patient in a phase 1 trial of CT-202 in the third quarter.

Context Therapeutics bispecific antibodies T-cell engagers Oncology pipeline Biotech