Over nearly two decades, we've focused on systematically removing the obstacles that typically block research and treatment advances for rare diseases like chordoma. Now we’re seeing our steady efforts begin to snowball: in 2025, we saw more tangible outputs of this community’s collective commitment than any prior year in our history.
This year alone:
Three CF-supported clinical trials launched and/or completed enrollment, including those testing cetuximab, ERAS-601 and PYX-201. We also invested in projects to help streamline and shape future trials. And we expanded our Clinical Trial Assistance Program to patients outside the U.S. for the first time.
We launched the TBXT Challenge, a prize competition to spur application of cutting-edge approaches and technologies to discovering drugs targeting brachyury (TBXT), chordoma’s defining feature and core vulnerability.
CF-supported preclinical work at MD Anderson Cancer Center led to a breakthrough that opens the door to multiple brachyury-targeting immunotherapy approaches, the first of which is now moving towards a clinical trial in 2026 thanks to a major NIH grant.
Chordoma Foundation Labs continued to serve as an accelerant for translational research and drug discovery. This year, scientists in CF Labs tested drugs representing 25 new therapeutic concepts, advanced several into animal studies, and shared datasets openly through platforms like Figshare so researchers everywhere can build on what's learned. In parallel, we tested more than 800 novel compounds generated internally and by collaborators aimed at targeting brachyury.
To uncover new therapeutic opportunities and improve our ability to personalize treatments for individual patients, we invested more than $1.5M this year in important research projects at seven institutions across four countries.
Alongside research progress, we strengthened how we support patients and caregivers. New this year: personalized survivorship care plans, four in-person Chordoma Community Days, and educational webinars on topics like nutrition and self-advocacy. We also continued expanding our international resources, helping patients get better outcomes wherever they live and inviting more people around the world to contribute to our shared mission.
Building on these advances, even faster, more meaningful progress is possible in 2026 and beyond. Just some of what we’re hoping to pursue together in the year ahead includes:
Initiating new clinical trials to test therapies that recently showed strong preclinical results, bringing more treatment options closer to patients
Building infrastructure that will make future clinical trials faster and more efficient
Advancing research that will guide development of brachyury-targeting immunotherapies
Uncovering how chordoma tumors evade the immune system and testing cutting-edge approaches designed to overcome those defenses
We know that a new level of participation and investment will be needed to seize all of these opportunities and new ones that emerge, but we also have every confidence that this community—patients and loved ones who refuse to accept the status quo, donors who back challenging but rewarding science, and clinicians and researchers around the world who’ve made solving chordoma part of their mission, too—will continue to step up.
If you’re in a position to make a year-end gift of any size, we’d deeply appreciate your partnership.
Thank you for standing with us!