France - Innate Pharma SA (Euronext Paris: IPH; Nasdaq: IPHA) ('Innate' or the 'Company') today announced that data from the Phase 2 expansion cohort ('cohort 3'), exploring the triplet combination of monalizumab, cetuximab and durvalumab in the first-line treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer (R/M HNSCC), will be presented virtually today at the ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress 2021.

Monalizumab, Innate's lead partnered asset, is a potentially first-in-class immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting NKG2A receptors expressed on tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and NK cells.

'These data show anti-tumor activity in the first study to evaluate this chemo-free triplet combination in first-line recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer,' said Joyson Karakunnel, M.D., MSc, FACP, Chief Medical Officer of Innate Pharma. 'We believe that the combination of monalizumab with the other two antibodies has the potential to become a new treatment option for patients. We look forward to collaborating with AstraZeneca on next steps of this program.'

Key Data Highlights

After a median follow-up of 16.3 months, preliminary data suggest anti-tumor activity in the triplet of monalizumab, cetuximab and durvalumab in first-line treatment of R/M HNSCC.

As of August 1, 2021, 40 patients were enrolled. Thirteen patients had a confirmed response with a 32.5% overall response rate (95% confidence interval (CI): 20-48), including three complete responses. Seven out of 13 responders were still on treatment. Median duration of response was not yet reached (95% CI: 7.1-not available). The survival rate at 12 months was 58.6% (95% CI: 45-77) and the median overall survival was 15 months (95% CI: 11.4 - not available).

In addition, Innate performed an exploratory subgroup analyses (n=40) according to Combined Positive Score (CPS), which is a PD-L1 scoring method that helps predict response to anti-PD-(L)1 therapy. In this analysis, CPS>1 (n = 25), the subset that had the greatest number of patients, showed a 40% overall response rate (95% CI: 23-59) and median overall survival of 17.3 months (95% CI: 14.7-NA). There were 5 patients with CPS

(C) 2021 Electronic News Publishing, source ENP Newswire