Elicio shares tumble after pancreatic cancer therapy misses mid-stage study goal

Elicio Therapeutics shares fell about 73% in early trading on Monday after the biotech firm's pancreatic cancer therapy failed to significantly extend the time patients lived without their disease returning, missing the main goal of a mid-stage study.

The development marks a severe setback for the company, which had flagged an about $15 million cash runway last month to support its operations into the fourth quarter of 2026. Elicio said it is currently evaluating multiple strategic financing and partnership opportunities.

The experimental therapy, ELI-002 7P, uses a technology that delivers the treatment directly to the lymph nodes to boost immune responses against the cancer.

The study enrolled 144 patients with pancreatic cancer linked to mutations in the KRAS gene, who had undergone surgery and standard treatment and were radiographically free of disease at enrolment, the company said.

Jones Trading analysts said the results fell short of their expectations.

Elicio said about 19% of patients who received the treatment had higher levels of residual disease, increasing the risk of relapse, compared with about 10% in the control group, an imbalance the company said weighed on results.

In a subgroup of patients with complete surgical clearance of cancer, representing about 84% of the study population, the therapy achieved a median disease-free survival of 23.8 months versus 12.8 months for control arm, which received only the standard-of-care, Elicio said.

The therapy also showed a favorable safety profile, with no treatment-related discontinuations and fewer adverse events than the control arm, supporting potential long-term use and combination approaches, Elicio said.

The company said the data would guide its late-stage development strategy, focusing on patients with lower residual disease and evaluating additional dosing.

"We identified the patients who benefit most, validated the biology, and demonstrated a favorable safety profile that supports extended dosing in Phase 3," CEO Robert Connelly said.

Shares were down at $4.08 in early trading.

(Reporting by Sahil Pandey and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 9:58 AM.