News

First patient dosed in phase III clinical trial of monalizumab + cetuximab in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck,- Innate Pharma + AstraZeneca.

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Published:24th Oct 2020

Innate Pharma SA announced that AstraZeneca has dosed the first patient in its Phase III clinical trial, INTERLINK-1, evaluating monalizumab in combination with cetuximab in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (R/M SCCHN) who have been previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and PD-(L)1 inhibitors (“IO-pretreated”) Monalizumab, Innate’s lead partnered asset, is a potentially first-in-class immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting NKG2A receptors expressed on tumor infiltrating cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and NK cells.

Dosing of the first patient in this trial has triggered a $50 million milestone payment from AstraZeneca to Innate. During the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, Innate presented preliminary data from its Phase II expansion cohort evaluating monalizumab and cetuximab in IO-pretreated patients (cohort 2), which confirmed an overall response rate (ORR) of 20% across 40 patients enrolled. Overall, the combination therapy data to date supports the expedited development of monalizumab and cetuximab in this indication. Innate intends to provide an update on this data at an upcoming scientific meeting.

Condition: Head & Neck Cancer

Type: drug

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