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Marengo Secures ESMO 2026 Oral Presentation for Key Phase 2 Invikafusp Alfa Data in PD-1-Resistant Solid Tumors and Appoints Pembrolizumab Development Leader Eric Rubin, M.D., to Scientific Advisory Board

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Updated STARt-001 results will highlight invikafusp alfa’s single-agent activity in PD-1–resistant tumors using a biomarker-enrichment strategyEric Rubin, former Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Oncology at Merck, who led the initial development of pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA®) through its global regulatory approvals, joins Marengo to guide invikafusp alfa’s next phase

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Marengo Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering precision immunotherapies, today announced that key Phase 2 data from the ongoing STARt-001 study of invikafusp alfa, a first-in-class bispecific dual T-cell agonist, have been selected for an oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2026. The presentation will evaluate invikafusp alfa’s single-agent activity in patients whose cancers have progressed following PD-1–directed treatment, using biomarker-enriched cohorts to identify patients most likely to benefit. The company also appointed renowned oncology drug developer Eric Rubin, M.D., to its Scientific Advisory Board.

The ESMO presentation will feature updated clinical and translational data from tumor mutational burden-high (TMB-H) patients with advanced solid tumors that are refractory or resistant to PD-1–directed therapy. Building on data reported at SITC 2025, the results will further assess whether selective activation of Vβ6/Vβ10 T-cell subsets in vivo can generate single-agent activity across biomarker-enriched tumor types after PD-1 resistance.

“Selection of our Phase 2 data for an ESMO oral presentation reflects the encouraging clinical efficacy signal from the ongoing Phase 2 study of invikafusp alfa and its differentiated biology,” said Zhen Su, M.D., M.B.A., Chief Executive Officer of Marengo Therapeutics. “STARt-001 is designed to test single-agent activity after PD-1–directed treatment has stopped working, using a biomarker-enriched strategy such as TMB-H. These studies will help us determine whether selective activation of Vβ6/Vβ10 T-cell subsets can support a broader pan-tumor development strategy. Eric led the initial development of KEYTRUDA® and its broad immuno-oncology backbone development strategy, and his experience will be invaluable as we rigorously evaluate invikafusp alfa’s potential.”

Dr. Rubin’s appointment strengthens Marengo’s scientific leadership in precision T-cell activation research as invikafusp alfa enters its next stage of development. His experience leading the initial development of KEYTRUDA® and large-scale oncology clinical programs will inform Marengo’s strategy for evaluating invikafusp alfa for single-agent activity in biomarker-selected, heavily pretreated PD-1–resistant cancers and, over time, as a potential combination backbone in larger and earlier-line settings.

“Invikafusp alfa is one of the more compelling novel immunotherapy approaches I have seen in recent years,” said Eric Rubin, M.D. “Its precision T-cell agonist mechanism provides a strong rationale for testing single-agent activity after PD-1 resistance while avoiding broad activation of the entire T-cell compartment. The biomarker-enriched design of STARt-001 should help define the patients and tumor settings in which this approach may offer the greatest benefit and inform its potential role in future combination strategies.”

Dr. Rubin brings more than 35 years of cancer drug-development experience across academic and industry settings, including leading large-scale oncology clinical programs. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Oncology at Merck, where he held several senior leadership roles during his 16-year tenure and led the initial development of pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA®). Earlier, he served on the faculty of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and as Director of Investigational Therapeutics at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, with a research focus on oncology translational science.

Dr. Rubin has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and served on national research and policy committees, including for the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, American Association for Cancer Research and American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Presentation Details:

Title: START-001: Phase 2 results of invikafusp alfa, a first-in-class T cell receptor β-chain–targeted bispecific antibody, as monotherapy in patients with TMB-H solid tumors resistant to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)Conference: ESMO Annual Meeting 2026Session Category and Title: Proffered paper: Investigational immunotherapySession Date and Time: Friday October 23 2026, 1:30 – 3:00 PM CETPresentation Number: #4703Presenter: Dr. Elena Garralda

About Marengo Therapeutics
Marengo Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing TCR-targeting antibodies that selectively modulate disease-relevant T-cell subsets for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Its three proprietary platforms—Selective T Cell Activation Repertoire (STAR), Trispecific T Cell Engager (TriSTAR) and T Cell Depletor (MSTAR)—are designed to target the right T cells in the right patients. To learn more, visit marengotx.com.

About Invikafusp alfa (STAR0602)
Invikafusp alfa (STAR0602), the lead candidate from Marengo’s STAR™ platform, is designed to selectively activate Vβ6/Vβ10 T-cell subsets found across cancers by combining non-clonal TCR activation with an IL-2 signal in a single molecule. This precision approach is intended to generate durable antitumor immunity while limiting broader systemic immune activation. Marengo is evaluating invikafusp alfa’s single-agent activity in biomarker-selected, PD-1–resistant cancers and its longer-term potential as a combination backbone.

About the STARt-001 Clinical Study 
STARt-001 is a global Phase 1/2 trial evaluating invikafusp alfa monotherapy in patients with advanced, antigen-rich solid tumors that are refractory or resistant to PD-1–directed therapy. The Phase 2 portion uses biomarker-enriched cohorts, including TMB-H and MSI-H, to assess activity across multiple tumor types and help identify patients most likely to benefit. For more information, visit ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05592626).

Marengo Contacts:
Media | Peg Rusconi | peg.rusconi@deerfieldgroup.com
Investors | bd@marengotx.com

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SOURCE Marengo Therapeutics

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Smart, Secure and Scalable: Flatworld Mortgage Reimagines Mortgage Operations

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Automation and agentic AI, powered by MSuite, run directly across onboarding, processing, underwriting, QC, closing and servicing.Every automated output is checked at a defined human checkpoint before it becomes a lending decision, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001, and ISO 9001:2015 certificationFlatworld Mortgage has already absorbed 100% more loan volume at 24–48 hours’ notice

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Flatworld Mortgage Solutions LLC, a strategic player in the mortgage processing space across the US announced a brand relaunch built on three pillars, Smart, Secure and Scalable, that reflects an operational transformation already running in production. With more than a decade running the US mortgage back office, Flatworld Mortgage has watched rising costs, heavier compliance scrutiny, and unpredictable loan volume stretch the industry’s legacy cost-driven operating model past its limit. This transformation replaces headcount-driven processing with automation and agentic AI built directly into origination workflows, across underwriting support, QC, closing and post-closing.

Smart. MSuite, the AI platform, indexes more than 1 million pages a month across 450-plus document types at a 90%+ accuracy rate. It also runs automated income, asset, and credit review and undisclosed debt notification (UDN) processing. The workflow itself has changed, not just its speed: an agent now owns a part of each file end to end, reviewing it, requesting what’s missing and escalating only when a decision needs judgment, which eliminates handoffs rather than speeding them up. Work that used to take a person the better part of a day, is now completed in minutes.

Secure. Human-in-the-loop checkpoints are built into each workflow alongside the automation, so only genuine exceptions reach a person. In underwriting, for example, an agent pre-clears the conditions it can verify and flags the rest for an underwriter; the underwriter always has control over the credit decision. Each checkpoint is designed to be auditable, and data handling is secure, under SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001, and ISO 9001:2015 certification held at the Flatworld Solutions group level.

Scalable. In production, Flatworld Mortgage has already absorbed 100% more loan volume at 24 to 48 hours’ notice, without a corresponding hiring cycle, with processing up to 40% faster than in-house baselines and a 55% net financial benefit in average cost savings and financial returns.

Speaking about the launch, David Antony, CEO of Flatworld Mortgage said “Most AI in mortgage gets bolted onto an existing workflow. We took the opposite approach: we rebuilt the workflow first, decided what AI should do and what a person should own, and only then automated it. In a regulated industry, you can’t say the AI made the call and I don’t know why, someone must own that outcome. That’s not a technology upgrade. It’s a different way of building a mortgage operation.”

Flatworld Mortgage is bringing the Smart, Secure, Scalable platform into conversations with lenders, servicers, and title companies this fall.

About Flatworld Mortgage

Flatworld Mortgage provides comprehensive solutions and BI/analytics services to lenders, brokers, servicers, correspondent lenders, and title companies across the US. The company runs around-the-clock operations, backed by a leadership team with decades of combined experience in US mortgage lending and regulation, and pairs that process expertise with MSuite, its automation and agentic AI platform. Flatworld Mortgage is based in Princeton, New Jersey.

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SOURCE Flatworld Mortgage Solutions LLC

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Valtech Valuation Puts Accountable Professional Judgement at the Heart of AI-Enhanced Valuation

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Valtech combines AI-driven modelling with hands-on professional oversight to deliver transparent, review-friendly valuations for tax, statutory and transaction purposes

HONG KONG and SINGAPORE, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Valtech Valuation (“Valtech”) has enhanced its various programmes and models to improve the quality of its valuation deliverables. The firm uses AI to strengthen its work while keeping qualified professionals fully involved and accountable for every valuation opinion.

Competition in the professional services sector is becoming increasingly intense, and there are now one-person companies empowered by AI. As AI becomes more widely used, and as global enterprises encourage and train their teams to apply it more broadly, valuation deliverables are becoming increasingly similar.

Based on league table statistics from webbsite.0xmd.com, Valtech estimates that more than 100 valuation firms are assisting Hong Kong-listed companies with their valuation work. Beyond Hong Kong SAR, Valtech has gained clients in Singapore and the wider Asia Pacific region, as well as US-listed multinational corporations and startups. These clients need valuation services for tax and statutory purposes, where a qualified professional is held accountable.

A Differentiated Approach to AI

Almost every week, AI solution providers and platforms approach Valtech with AI-based valuation tools that promise to automate and streamline valuation work to save time and cost. Using technology has always been at the core of Valtech’s business strategy and philosophy. However, Valtech firmly believes that challenging queries arising from AI-generated work cannot simply be resolved by another AI to the satisfaction of auditors and regulators.

Instead, Valtech uses AI to significantly enhance the modelling process and to produce valuation summaries and presentation slides that are easy to use and easy to review. At the same time, Valtech builds established valuation and forecasting methods and techniques into its models to prevent errors and improve transparency.

Business valuation for potential transactions is one example. Clients often want to include an independent valuation analysis in their pitch deck for fundraising, or as part of due diligence in merger and acquisition transactions. Valtech can provide slide presentations summarising the whole process, the key valuation inputs, sensitivity analysis and more. This allows readers to quickly understand how the valuation is derived and review the underlying assumptions.

“As professionals, we are responsible for our opinions and judgements, and full automation is not something we aim to provide,” said Max Tsang, Director of Valtech Valuation. “AI is a powerful tool embedded in our valuation process to reduce formula and calculation errors and improve the quality of our work. But our professional valuers insist on actively participating in the modelling process, exercising valuation judgement, and being held accountable for it. That is why Valtech can always fully explain its valuation opinions.”

Until standard regulatory or statutory guidelines on the use of AI in valuation are established, Valtech will continue to explain to clients which parts of the work still require significant professional effort. Its professional valuers must still evaluate a large amount of information before forming reasonable valuation judgements.

About Valtech Valuation

Valtech Valuation is an independent valuation advisory firm based in Hong Kong SAR and Singapore. It provides business, assets, financial instruments valuation services to listed companies, multinational corporations and startups across Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Valtech integrates technology and AI into its modelling process while keeping qualified professional valuers fully accountable for every opinion. Its deliverables are designed to be transparent, easy to review and ready for auditors and regulators. Valtech team has qualifications of CPA, CFA, FRM, MRICS, CVA (Singapore), ABV (AICPA) and China Certified Public Valuer. For more information, visit https://valtech-valuation.com or https://valtech-valuation.sg

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SOURCE Valtech Valuation

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Ankura launches AI by Design practice to help organisations close the gap between AI ambition and adoption.

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Ankura, the U.S. PE-backed advisory firm, invests in new Data & AI capabilities in the UK and an ecosystem of specialist partners to close the adoption gap holding back the ROI of enterprise AI.

LONDON, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ankura Consulting Group, LLC (“Ankura”), today announced the launch of Ankura, AI by Design, a new tech-agnostic practice in the UK, serving EMEA, which focuses on helping clients use AI to grow revenue, expand what organisations can achieve with AI, and lift underlying profit.

AI by Design is built on the conviction that AI should be shaped around the organisation: its ambitions, people, customers, and distinctive capabilities. Technology is an important part of that equation, however sustainable value depends on the strategy, operating model, skills, systems, governance, talent, and culture that allow AI to change how work gets done and enable organizations to achieve their strategic growth ambitions. This new practice reflects the increasing demand for practical, adoption-led AI advisory and builds directly on Ankura’s established strength in strategy, risk, technology, and workforce transformation.

“AI transformation programmes usually break down due to organizational challenges rather than the underlying technology itself. AI by Design is built by people who understand that, which is why I wanted to be part of it.” Hywel Ball, AI Advisory Council Member, Former EY UK Chair and Non-Executive Director.

Ankura, AI by Design’s proposition is structured around three integrated pillars, underpinned by an internal AI Factory that builds, tests, and deploys AI in real delivery environments:

AI Strategy: targeting topline growth opportunities for boards and leadership teams to unlockAI Governance Engineering: enabling organizations to manage AI risk and unlock value at scale by re-wiring the user experience of AI governance to be more intuitive and more efficient to operateAI Workforce Transformation: redesigning roles, reskilling people, and embedding human-centered change so AI adoption embeds across the organization

“Most enterprise AI stalls because organizations are not ready to adopt it, govern it, or redesign work and systems around it. Ankura, AI by Design closes that gap.” Catriona Campbell, MBE – Practice Lead for Ankura, AI by Design.

Ankura, AI by Design is led by a senior team with direct experience of successfully embedding AI and human-centered change inside global blue-chip multinationals across strategy, governance, and workforce transformation.

They are joined by a curated ecosystem of early-stage ‘best athlete’ partners; Decoded for AI literacy and workforce reskilling, Seymour-Powell for human-centred design, and Inference Group for AI engineering and delivery.

The practice is supported by an Advisory Council of senior figures from across technology, governance, academia, and industry, bringing an independent perspective on where AI is genuinely creating value, ensuring Ankura’s advice reflects the frontier of AI strategy, governance engineering, and workforce transformation.

“The technology has never been the biggest challenge. What matters is whether an organisation understands the outcomes they want to drive, and then designs how it works, governs, and trains its people around those outcomes. Ankura, AI by Design’s focus on the human and organisational side of deployment is exactly the discipline the private sector now needs too.” Dr Laura Gilbert CBE, AI Advisory Council Member, Senior AI advisor to UK government and industry.

“The investment in AI by Design strengthens Ankura’s commitment to helping clients turn AI ambition into measurable results,” said Kevin Lavin, CEO of Ankura. “Across every industry, the organizations that succeed with AI are the ones that bring their people with them, not just their technology. Ankura’s AI by Design practice helps our clients to adopt AI with confidence and turn it into real, lasting value.”

ABOUT ANKURA

Ankura Consulting Group, LLC is an independent global expert services and advisory firm that delivers end-to-end solutions to manage conflict, crisis, performance, risk, strategy, and transformation. Committed to its mission of Driving Excellence, Delivered with Humanity, Ankura has more than 2,000 professionals serving 3,000+ clients across 55 countries. For more information, please visit: ankura.com.

MEDIA CONTACT
Keelin McGrory
aibydesign@ankura.com 

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