Johnson & Johnson stock advances as prostate drug combo enters Phase 3

Johnson & Johnson said on Monday, November 9, that an investigational combination of pasritamig and JNJ-9401 produced encouraging early results in advanced prostate cancer. The company's November 9 press release said the dual-bispecific regimen is advancing into Phase 3 development.

Among 15 patients treated at the recommended regimen in the Phase 1 study, 11 achieved a prostate-specific antigen reduction of at least 50 percent. Seven patients recorded reductions of at least 90 percent, four reached undetectable PSA levels and all seven with the deepest reductions remained on treatment for more than six months without disease progression.

Early Data Meets A Larger Test

The regimen combines pasritamig, a KLK2xCD3 bispecific antibody, with JNJ-9401, a PSMAxCD28 costimulatory bispecific antibody. The approach is designed to send complementary signals to T cells by targeting two prostate-cancer proteins, KLK2 and PSMA.

The findings were presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 2026 Annual Meeting on November 7. Johnson & Johnson said the study population was heavily pretreated, with a median of four prior systemic treatment lines. The company also cautioned that the findings are preliminary and based on a small number of patients.

The combination is now being evaluated in the Phase 3 KLK2-comPAS study, which is testing whether adding JNJ-9401 to pasritamig can improve outcomes in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. A second Phase 3 program, KLK2-PASenger, is evaluating pasritamig with docetaxel in first-line disease.

Safety remains an important consideration as the program expands. No Grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events, dose-limiting toxicities, treatment-related discontinuations or treatment-related deaths were reported in the early analysis. Cytokine release syndrome occurred in three patients, all at Grade 1, and no cases of immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome were reported.

Johnson & Johnson stock traded at 256.90 euros on Lang & Schwarz at 13:34 CET on Friday, November 13, 0.12 percent above the Xetra close of Thursday, November 12. The comparison uses the 256.60-euro Xetra close from the previous session. The early clinical data add another development milestone to the company's oncology pipeline, but the Phase 3 studies will determine whether the initial PSA signal translates into broader clinical benefit.

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