On Glioblastoma Awareness Day, the Science Chasing a Stubborn Cancer

Glioblastoma Awareness Day 2026 lands under the theme “Honoring Every Story, Advancing Every Hope.” Four companies are testing immune-based approaches against the disease, each carrying real promise and real risk.

Glioblastoma remains one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant cancers, with standard therapy offering only limited gains. That reality continues to drive research into new immune-based approaches. Four companies pursuing immune-based therapies illustrate both the progress being made and how much still has to be proven.

IN8bio

IN8bio (Nasdaq: INAB) develops gamma-delta (γδ) T cell therapies engineered to attack tumors, including in newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Its lead brain-cancer candidate, INB-200, uses genetically modified γδ T cells built to resist chemotherapy, delivered directly into the brain alongside temozolomide, with the goal of preserving immune-cell activity during chemotherapy. On July 9, 2026, the Phase 1 results were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Across all 13 treated patients, median progression-free survival was 9.9 months, and in the repeat-dose group it reached 16.1 months against a roughly 6.9-month standard-of-care benchmark, with median overall survival of 19.5 months versus about 14.6 months. The therapy was well tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities and no severe immune-related side effects reported.

The results come from a 13-patient Phase 1 study using historical benchmarks rather than a randomized control, making larger trials the critical next test. IN8bio ended the first quarter of 2026 with $21.9 million in cash, up from $11.9 million a year earlier, keeping financing in focus as the program moves toward larger, more expensive studies.

Northwest Biotherapeutics

Northwest Biotherapeutics (OTCQB: NWBO) develops DCVax-L, a personalized immunotherapy for glioblastoma made from a patient’s own dendritic cells and tumor tissue. On July 8, 2026, at the British Neuro-Oncology Society meeting, the company presented updated survival analyses from its completed 331-patient Phase 3 trial. Using individual patient-level data and two independent matching methods, statisticians found a median overall survival advantage for DCVax-L of roughly 3.4 to 6.3 months, larger than the 2.8 months in the original analysis, with hazard ratios of 0.69 to 0.77. The trial was published in JAMA Oncology, and a marketing application is under review in the United Kingdom.

The results remain controversial because the study relied on external control patients after nearly all participants assigned to standard care crossed over to receive DCVax-L. The updated analyses sharpen the matching, but they do not resolve the longstanding debate over whether external controls can substitute for a traditional randomized comparison.

The financial picture sharpens the risk. Northwest Biotherapeutics reported about $1.8 million in cash as of March 31, 2026, down from $3.0 million at year-end, and its filings carry a going-concern warning, stating that existing liquidity is not sufficient to fund operations. For a company pursuing approval and a potential launch, that makes financing the most immediate question of all.

ImmunityBio

ImmunityBio (Nasdaq: IBRX) is a commercial-stage immunotherapy company whose approved product, the IL-15 superagonist ANKTIVA, is used in bladder cancer. In glioblastoma, it is testing a chemotherapy-free regimen that combines ANKTIVA with an off-the-shelf natural killer cell therapy (PD-L1 t-haNK) in recurrent disease. In data reported on January 23, 2026 from the Phase 2 QUILT-3.078 trial, median overall survival had not yet been reached, with 19 of 23 enrolled patients still alive at the January data cutoff. The regimen also reversed the severe lymphopenia common in these patients, restoring immune-cell counts, and showed a manageable safety profile across more than 200 doses. Randomized controlled trials in first- and second-line glioblastoma are in development.

This is early Phase 2 data from a small, single-arm study with short follow-up and no randomized control yet, so the survival signal is preliminary. On the balance sheet, ImmunityBio is the most established of the group commercially, reporting about $381 million in cash and marketable securities as of March 31, 2026 alongside growing ANKTIVA revenue, though glioblastoma is an early pipeline program rather than the source of that revenue.

Candel Therapeutics

Candel Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CADL) develops viral immunotherapies designed to make solid tumors visible to the immune system. Its brain-cancer candidate, linoserpaturev (formerly CAN-3110), is a replication-competent HSV-1 oncolytic immunotherapy studied in recurrent high-grade glioma, the setting where most glioblastoma returns. The therapy holds FDA Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations in recurrent high-grade glioma.

Glioblastoma is one part of a broader Candel oncology pipeline, whose near-term focus is aglatimagene besadenovec in prostate and lung cancer. On the glioma program, linoserpaturev produced positive interim data in Science Translational Medicine in October 2025 and cleared its FDA IND in the first quarter of 2026. With about $195 million in cash and runway into 2028, Candel is well positioned to advance randomized development while continuing work across its pipeline.

The common thread across all four companies is that the most important evidence has yet to arrive. Glioblastoma has repeatedly produced encouraging early signals that failed to hold up in larger randomized studies. That history is why the next generation of trials, not the current readouts, will ultimately determine which approaches meaningfully change patient care.

For informational purposes only. Not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Clinical results referenced are from early-stage or externally controlled studies and may not be confirmed in larger randomized trials. Company forward-looking statements are subject to the risks described in their SEC filings.