Inhibrx's combination cancer drug shrinks tumors in mid-stage head and neck cancer study

Sept 8 — Inhibrx Biosciences said on Tuesday its experimental combination cancer ​drug helped reduce tumors in a mid-stage study in patients with a type of head and ‌neck cancer.

Shares of the company were marginally up in premarket trading.

• ⁠The drug developer was ​testing the efficacy and safety ⁠of INBRX-106 in combination with Merck's Keytruda in ‌patients with head ‌and neck squamous cell carcinoma that has spread ⁠and cannot be removed with ⁠surgery.

• Data showed the combination drug shrank or disappeared tumors in 48.3% of patients, versus 26.5% for Keytruda alone.

• As of the data cutoff, patients on the combination drug remained progression-free for a ‌median of 9.6 months, compared with ​4.9 months for those receiving Keytruda alone.

• Side effects were generally manageable, with the most common treatment-related adverse events being rash, fatigue, and diarrhea, the company said.

• INBRX-106 is an immunotherapy designed to activate OX40, a protein on T cells that helps ​boost the body's immune response.

• The benefit of the ‌combination drug was ‌strongest ⁠in HPV-positive patients, the company said, adding that it plans to include about 50 additional patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer to support a potential accelerated approval.

• The ‌company also plans to ​explore the potential of ‌INBRX-106 in combination with ⁠therapeutic ​cancer vaccines.

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(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Vijay Kishore)

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