Coherus Oncology (NASDAQ:CHRS) outlined progress on its transition to an “innovative oncology” company during its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call, highlighting a growing commercial base in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), an expanding clinical development plan focused on overcoming immune resistance, and balance sheet changes following the divestiture of its biosimilar franchise.
Strategic shift and balance sheet changes
Chief Executive Officer Denny Lanfear said 2025 marked the completion of the company’s strategic transformation, which began with the September 2023 acquisition of Surface Oncology. Through that transaction, Coherus acquired two pipeline assets: tagmokitug, described as a potentially best-in-class CCR8 regulatory T-cell (Treg) depleter, and casdozokitug, a first-in-class anti-IL-27 inhibitor.
LOQTORZI revenue growth and commercial expansion
Chief Commercial Officer Sameer Goregaoker reported LOQTORZI net revenue of $40.8 million for full-year 2025, up from $19.1 million in 2024, representing 113% year-over-year growth. Fourth-quarter net revenue was $12.4 million, up 11% from the third quarter, while demand growth was 15.5% in Q4. Goregaoker attributed the gap between net revenue and demand growth to wholesaler inventory declines in the quarter.
Goregaoker said demand growth was driven by new patient starts in both new and existing accounts, and the company saw an 11% increase in purchasing accounts. He added that significant opportunity remains in community oncology, where chemotherapy-only use and off-label immuno-oncology therapy persist. Coherus pointed to updated NCCN guidelines in late 2024 that placed LOQTORZI as the only preferred treatment for recurrent and metastatic NPC.
The company emphasized long-term overall survival data presented at ESMO Asia in December, which Goregaoker characterized as showing patients on LOQTORZI plus chemotherapy living for “almost 65 months” versus “less than 3 years” for chemotherapy-only patients. He said the commercial organization is focused on educating target oncologists on the data and guideline position.
Coherus described several commercial investments aimed at expanding reach in a rare disease setting:
- Field force expansion: a 15% increase in the “live” sales force, implemented about a quarter prior to the call.
- Inside/remote coverage: addition of four inside sales representatives to reach “tier two” targets while the field team concentrates on “tier one” physicians.
- Veterans Affairs focus: use of a specialized contract sales team with VA selling experience.
- Data and analytics: increased investment in CRM and expanded claims and patient alert data, providing visibility into roughly 70% of U.S. claims, according to Goregaoker.
On the Q&A, Goregaoker said LOQTORZI is “extremely promotion sensitive” because community physicians may see only one or two NPC patients per year and need continued reminders. He also said that in 2025, approximately 25% of business came from new patients, with the remainder from continuing patients, and he expects the mix to shift somewhat toward new patients as Coherus targets growth. Management reiterated its expectation of 10% to 15% average quarter-over-quarter demand growth going forward, with variability by quarter due to patient flow and other factors.
Lanfear discussed longer-term LOQTORZI expectations, describing a path to peak market share around 2028 corresponding to $175 million in annualized revenue, or about 70% share of what he called a $250 million addressable U.S. NPC market. He also described internal milestones: reaching about $15–$16 million in quarterly sales to cover commercial costs and begin contributing to broader SG&A, which he said could occur in 2026, and reaching approximately $30–$35 million per quarter to cover “core burn” excluding clinical trial expense, which he said could occur in 2027.
Pipeline focus: tagmokitug and casdozokitug
Chief Scientific and Development Officer Theresa LaVallee detailed the rationale for tagmokitug, describing Tregs as a tumor-evading mechanism associated with poor prognosis across multiple cancers and noting that Tregs can increase following various anti-cancer treatments. She said tagmokitug targets CCR8, which is preferentially expressed on tumor Tregs, and that clinical treatment has shown selective depletion of CCR8-positive Tregs in tumors along with a “massive increase” in CD8 T cells.
LaVallee said CCR8 drugs have shown limited single-agent activity and that Coherus is evaluating combinations to activate the T cells seen after tagmokitug treatment. She highlighted a phase 1 observation that, when toripalimab was added to tagmokitug, a partial response occurred in a fourth-line head and neck cancer patient who had progressed on prior PD-1 therapy, which she said suggested CCR8-positive Tregs as a resistance mechanism. She also discussed the company’s collaboration with Johnson & Johnson to study tagmokitug with pasritamig, a prostate-specific T-cell engager (TCE), describing it as the first CCR8 antibody in prostate cancer and the first CCR8/TCE combination.
Chief Medical Officer Rosh Dias said Coherus remains on track for initial data readouts from “mid-2026 onwards.” He outlined two tagmokitug protocols under what the company calls the “Treg Check” program:
- Second-line head and neck squamous cell cancer: 40 patients across two tagmokitug doses in combination with toripalimab, designed to test whether tagmokitug can reverse PD-(L)1 resistance; initial data anticipated mid-year 2026.
- Umbrella protocol across four tumor types: cohorts in second-line upper GI adenocarcinoma, second-line esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), first-line ESCC (with chemotherapy), and fourth-line-plus colorectal cancer; Dias cited expected timing ranging from the second half of the year for ESCC cohorts to late 2026 or early 2027 for colorectal cancer.
Dias also said the company anticipates starting the tagmokitug/pasritamig study in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in the second half of the year, beginning in a third-line-plus population with an initial safety cohort and PSA50 endpoints.
On casdozokitug, Dias described the “Catalyze” program in first-line hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). He referenced data presented at ASCO GI 2025 from a prior study adding casdozokitug to atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, which he said showed a 38% overall response rate and a 17% complete response rate with durable responses and a favorable safety profile compared with historical benchmarks. The ongoing study replaces atezolizumab with toripalimab and enrolls 72 patients across three arms: two casdozokitug dose levels with toripalimab plus bevacizumab versus toripalimab plus bevacizumab alone. Dias said the study is intended to further characterize efficacy and safety and address FDA Project Optimus considerations and “contribution of components,” with initial data expected around mid-year 2026.
Financial results and funding outlook
Chief Financial Officer Bryan McMichael said Coherus ended 2025 with $172.1 million in cash, equivalents, and investments, and reiterated the company’s debt reduction to $38.8 million, extending the earliest debt maturity to May 2029. He also said headcount declined from about 228 at the end of 2024 to about 147 at the end of 2025.
McMichael highlighted reductions in legacy liabilities tied to divested businesses. Accrued rebates, fees, and reserves totaled $30 million at Dec. 31, down from $67 million one quarter earlier. He also described the wind-down of transition services agreements (TSAs), noting TSA receivables fell from $241 million at the start of Q4 to less than $1 million at year-end, while TSA liabilities fell from $254 million to $65 million. He said remaining legacy liabilities are expected to be paid down in coming quarters in a “front-weighted” fashion.
On the income statement, McMichael said fourth-quarter SG&A from continuing operations decreased to $23.6 million from $29.6 million in the prior-year quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of flat or declining SG&A as the company exited biosimilars and reduced headcount. Fourth-quarter R&D from continuing operations was $31 million, up from $20.8 million in Q4 2024, as the company invested in its pipeline.
He also cited reduced interest costs, stating cash paid for interest was $9.9 million in 2025 versus $25.4 million in 2024, reflecting savings of more than $15 million. McMichael said Coherus recently raised capital, including a $50 million follow-on offering, with proceeds supporting additional pipeline work and commercial investments. The company said it expects to provide full-year 2026 LOQTORZI revenue guidance on its earnings call in August.
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.
