A chemotherapy-free combo cut the risk of death by 50% in a hard head and neck cancer

For people whose head and neck cancer has come back or spread, survival is often measured in months. Genmab's global Phase 3 LiGeR-HN1 trial tested a chemotherapy-free combination — its antibody petosemtamab plus the immunotherapy pembrolizumab — against pembrolizumab alone as a first treatment for patients whose tumours carry the PD-L1 marker. At the first interim analysis, checked by an independent monitoring committee, the combination met both of the trial's main goals: it cut the risk of death by 50%, and patients had more than three times the odds of their tumours responding. No new safety problems appeared. 'As the first positive Phase 3 study in this patient population in several years, LiGeR-HN1 represents a major milestone,' said Everett Vokes of the University of Chicago Medicine. Genmab now plans to talk to regulators worldwide and present the full data at a medical meeting.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation