Coherus BioSciences Navigates Acquisition Legacy While Advancing Clinical Programs

The financial statements of Coherus BioSciences continue to reflect the complex integration of assets acquired from Surface Oncology. The company's third-quarter 2025 results highlight ongoing accounting adjustments related to the purchase, even as its clinical development pipeline marks significant progress.

Amidst its financial reporting, Coherus is moving key drug candidates forward. The most prominent is casdozokitug (formerly SRF388), an IL-27 antagonist. At the Cytokines 2025 conference on November 2, the company unveiled new data demonstrating the drug's activation of NK and T cells, a critical mechanism for attacking tumors.

• Patient recruitment is underway for a Phase 2 trial in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), testing casdozokitug in combination with toripalimab and bevacizumab.
• Initial results from this pivotal study are anticipated by mid-2026.
• Strategically, Coherus plans to explore combinations of casdozokitug with its own checkpoint inhibitor, LOQTORZI, and other candidates like CHS-114.

A second asset, CHS-114, a CCR8 antibody, is also gaining scientific momentum. The importance of the CCR8 target was underscored by the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which recognized the role of regulatory T-cells in cancer therapy. Coherus has responded by expanding the CHS-114 clinical program to include studies in colorectal cancer.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Surface Oncology?

Financial Statements Reflect Ongoing Asset Reassessment

The Q3 2025 financials reported a net impairment charge of $1.6 million. This non-cash expense relates to an intangible asset and its associated Contingent Value Right (CVR) liability for the drug candidate GSK4381562, an asset originating from the Surface Oncology acquisition.

This recent charge follows a pattern:
* In the first quarter of 2024, Coherus recorded a $6.8 million impairment for another legacy Surface Oncology asset, NZV930.
* These recurring adjustments indicate a continuous reassessment of the acquired pipeline's value, highlighting the inherent financial risks in biotech mergers and acquisitions.

Strategic Outlook and Forthcoming Catalysts

Coherus BioSciences currently presents a dual narrative of portfolio optimization and clinical execution. While certain inherited assets are being written down, others, namely casdozokitug and CHS-114, are receiving substantial resources and strategic focus. For investors, the next major catalyst will be the release of Phase 2 data for casdozokitug in the summer of 2026.