BioNTech mRNA cancer immunotherapy misses first objective in key study
An early data check showed the shot didn’t delay tumor progression in a form of head and neck cancer, though BioNTech is holding out hope it might eventually extend survival.
BioNTech reported that its cancer immunotherapy drug, BNT113, failed to meet the primary endpoint in a recent clinical trial for treating head and neck cancer. The AHEAD-MERIT trial compared BNT113 combined with pembrolizumab to pembrolizumab alone in patients with HPV16-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that had progressed.
The combination did not show a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared to the standard treatment, though overall survival results are still being evaluated. BioNTech's chief medical officer explained that the data still indicate the drug is working as intended. The drug targets two antigens frequently found in HPV16-positive tumors, which make up about a third of head and neck cancer cases.
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