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

Inhibrx Biosciences

08/09/2026 13:17

Sept 8 (Reuters) - Inhibrx Biosciences INBX.O 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.


 (Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
 ((Sneha.SK@thomsonreuters.com;))