Coherus Oncology Touts 90% Debt Cut, LOQTORZI Sales Surge, Sets 2026 Data Catalysts

Coherus Oncology (NASDAQ:CHRS) executives said the company has moved quickly through a multi-year transformation toward becoming an “innovative oncology company,” highlighting a sharply improved balance sheet, an accelerating commercial launch for its PD-1 therapy LOQTORZI, and upcoming clinical readouts for two pipeline assets in 2026.

Balance sheet and transformation efforts

Management said Coherus has reduced indebtedness by roughly 90% over the last couple of years. The company cited prior debt of about $480 million and said it now has $3.7 million in senior secured debt. Executives attributed the shift in financial flexibility in part to the company’s biosimilar divestiture process following its September 2023 acquisition of Surface Oncology, which management said exceeded expectations in terms of asset value. Coherus said the transactions enabled both significant debt paydown and $250 million added to the balance sheet to support development of its oncology pipeline.

Leadership also described the transformation as extending beyond assets and strategy to include changes in the team, board, coverage, and ultimately the investor base. The company said it recently completed a financing and characterized its current position as having a strong balance sheet and “cash in the bank,” while preparing for multiple data updates in 2026.

LOQTORZI launch: Rare-disease execution and financial targets

Coherus discussed the commercial launch of LOQTORZI in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), describing the indication as an area of unmet need where, according to management, there had not been a labeled option prior to LOQTORZI. The company estimated approximately 2,000 patients per year and said patients historically were treated with chemotherapy or potentially off-label immuno-oncology agents.

Management emphasized that rare-disease commercialization depends on finding patients. Coherus said it invested part of a recent capital raise into improving data acquisition and building sales dashboards to help identify diagnosed patients through treatment coding and target prescribing efforts. The company also said it expanded its commercial footprint in 2026, including six sales personnel (OAMs) per region, an inside sales force of four, and a separate team focused on the VA.

Coherus provided several commercial and financial benchmarks tied to LOQTORZI:

• Management said LOQTORZI produced about $19 million in sales in 2024 and that sales doubled in 2025.
• The company said it does not expect to “quite double” sales again in 2026, but described the trajectory as strong.
• Coherus said that when the commercial team reaches about $15 million to $16 million per quarter, the team will have “paid for themselves,” with that milestone expected sometime in 2026.
• Management said reaching $30 million-plus per quarter would support a goal of moving the “whole shop” to cash-flow breakeven, excluding clinical trial costs and certain non-cash items such as stock option expense.
• In a longer-term view, the company said it believes LOQTORZI could reach a run rate of roughly $175 million per year around 2028, describing that as about 70% penetration of a ~$250 million market opportunity.

Executives also pointed to LOQTORZI’s clinical profile in NPC, stating that it showed an overall survival benefit of 65 months versus about 34 months on chemotherapy alone. Management said LOQTORZI holds a strong listing on NCCN guidelines, describing it as the only “preferred” option in the first-line setting.

Tagmokitug (anti-CCR8): Treg depletion data and combination strategy

Chief Scientific and Development Officer Theresa LaVallee outlined the rationale for tagmokitug, an anti-CCR8 antibody designed to deplete tumor-associated regulatory T cells (Tregs) while sparing other lymphocytes. She said CCR8 is preferentially highly expressed on Tregs in tumors and framed the approach as a way to avoid the autoimmune toxicity seen with broad Treg depletion.

LaVallee said early clinical data showed selective depletion of CCR8-positive Tregs in tumors—reported as statistically significant 52% to 97% depletion—without depleting CD4 or CD8 cells, alongside a “massive increase” in tumor T cells. She said no dose-limiting toxicity was observed in the phase I study up to 1,200 mg, and that the company is evaluating dose levels 5 and 6 for dose optimization.

Coherus described evaluating tagmokitug across tumor types with different immune profiles, including immunotherapy-responsive settings such as head and neck cancer and gastrointestinal tumors, as well as “IO desert” tumors like MSS colorectal cancer. LaVallee said a key focus is determining the best context for CCR8 targeting, including whether efficacy correlates with target prevalence or the percentage of Tregs expressing CCR8. She added that Coherus has an analytically validated assay and could pursue an enrichment strategy if supported by study learnings.

On differentiation, LaVallee said tagmokitug is the only known antibody with no off-target binding, and she cited screening against 5,280 other cellular proteins. She also cited picomolar binding affinity and an effector-function-enhanced design via afucosylation, noting that not all competing programs incorporate enhanced effector function.

Management highlighted interest in collaborations, arguing that tagmokitug may complement modalities such as antibody-drug conjugates, T cell engagers, and radiation. Coherus also said it holds global rights to tagmokitug and casdozokitug, and described a strategy of reaching out to potential partners in regions such as Europe and the Far East to share costs in pivotal trials.

LaVallee discussed a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, describing a combination study with talquetamab in prostate cancer and positioning it as a way to address limitations of T cell engagers, including Treg activation and the need for sufficient T-cell proximity. She said Coherus had generated prostate tumor data suggesting high CCR8 prevalence and characterized the planned study as “first in disease” and “first in combination” for that setting.

Casdozokitug (anti-IL-27): Liver and lung focus, randomized phase II timing

Coherus also detailed casdozokitug, an anti-IL-27 antibody, emphasizing a context-specific immunology rationale. Management said IL-27 helps turn off immune responses in barrier tissues such as liver and lung after pathogen invasion, and described IL-27 as upregulating immune checkpoints (including LAG-3, TIGIT, and PD-1), downregulating inflammatory cytokines, and suppressing natural killer (NK) cells.

LaVallee said preclinical data showed anti-tumor activity in models when tumors were placed in the lung or liver but not in flank models, which she said reinforced the context-specific mechanism. In clinical observations, she said the company has seen dose-dependent inhibition of IL-27 signaling and activation of T cells and NK cells when IL-27 is fully inhibited. She also said monotherapy responses were observed in lung cancer, specifically squamous lung cancer, and that expansion phases showed some activity in liver cancer.

Discussing combination work in liver cancer, LaVallee said that in a study combining casdozokitug with a PD-L1/angiogenesis inhibitor standard of care (Avastin), the company observed an improvement in overall response rate and, importantly, depth of response. She cited a 17% complete response (CR) rate and said it was higher than previously reported in liver cancer with approved therapy, which she described as 8% at the high end. She also said the combination showed no added toxicity versus standard of care.

Coherus said a randomized phase II study is ongoing evaluating toripalimab plus or minus casdozokitug, with an initial readout expected mid-year 2026. LaVallee cautioned that earlier datasets in the program matured over time, describing an overall response rate that increased from 27% in summer 2023 to 38% by January 2024 (ASCO GI), followed by deeper responses and a higher CR count as follow-up continued. She said the initial mid-year look will focus on reproducing safety and assessing activity, with more mature depth-of-response data expected later as the dataset develops.

In closing remarks, management said Coherus is executing across three priorities: building around a commercial PD-1 with accelerating sales, advancing two pipeline assets described as potentially best-in-class (tagmokitug) and first-in-class (casdozokitug), and pursuing a financial and partnering strategy intended to reduce development costs while supporting shareholder value. The company said its near-term focus is on upcoming data readouts during 2026.

About Coherus Oncology (NASDAQ:CHRS)

Coherus Oncology, Inc is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of biologic therapies for oncology support and immuno-oncology. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, Coherus specializes in biosimilar versions of established oncology agents as well as novel immunotherapy candidates.

The company’s lead marketed products include Udenyca (pegfilgrastim-cbqv) and Fulphila (pegfilgrastim-jmdb), biosimilars to Amgen’s Neulasta, which are designed to reduce the incidence of infection in patients undergoing myelosuppressive chemotherapy.