
AstraZeneca's prized Imfinzi/tremelimumab combo fails again — this time in head and neck cancer
AstraZeneca’s big bet on a combination of its checkpoint inhibitor Imfinzi and in-house CTLA-4 drug has proved exceedingly costly. The British drugmaker conceded on Friday that the combination had failed to improve overall survival in certain patients with head and neck cancer, in addition to the big flop in the keenly-watched MYSTIC lung cancer trial reported last month.
The combination — once touted as the cornerstone of AstraZeneca’s $AZN checkpoint development strategy — did not meet the main goal of helping patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) whose disease had spread despite platinum-based chemotherapy live longer, when compared to standard chemotherapy.
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