{"entity":{"id":"egfr-bispecific-plus-pd1-hnscc","kind":"pairing","name":"EGFR-directed bispecific + PD-1 blockade","aka":[],"tldr":"Pairing a new EGFR antibody with immunotherapy tripled the response rate seen with immunotherapy alone in early trials.","summary":"This combination pairs an EGFR-directed bispecific antibody, petosemtamab or ficerafusp alfa, with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. EGFR blockade with ADCC-competent antibodies induces immunogenic cell death and, in the case of ficerafusp, also removes TGF-beta-mediated immune exclusion; PD-1 blockade then sustains the resulting T-cell response. In phase 2 single-arm studies, petosemtamab with pembrolizumab produced a response rate far above that expected with immunotherapy alone, and ficerafusp alfa with pembrolizumab produced durable responses in HPV-negative disease. Both pairings are now in registrational phase 3 trials, LiGeR-HN1 and FORTIFI-HN01, so the evidence remains uncontrolled for the moment.","asOf":"2026-09-07","links":[{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06525220: LiGeR-HN1","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06525220"},{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06788990: FORTIFI-HN01","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06788990"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["head-and-neck"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":["egfr","pd1"],"drugs":["petosemtamab","ficerafusp-alfa","pembrolizumab"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["liger-hn1","fortifi-hn01"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"a":"petosemtamab","b":"pembrolizumab","rationale":"EGFR blockade with ADCC-competent antibodies induces immunogenic cell death and, for ficerafusp, removes TGF-β-mediated exclusion; PD-1 blockade sustains the resulting T-cell response.","evidence":"Phase 2 single-arm data; phase 3 pending (LiGeR-HN1, FORTIFI-HN01).","pairingType":"combination"},"route":"/pairings/egfr-bispecific-plus-pd1-hnscc/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"}],"target":[{"id":"egfr","kind":"target","name":"EGFR","route":"/targets/egfr/"},{"id":"pd1","kind":"target","name":"PD-1","route":"/targets/pd1/"}],"drug":[{"id":"ficerafusp-alfa","kind":"drug","name":"Ficerafusp alfa","route":"/drugs/ficerafusp-alfa/"},{"id":"pembrolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Pembrolizumab","route":"/drugs/pembrolizumab/"},{"id":"petosemtamab","kind":"drug","name":"Petosemtamab","route":"/drugs/petosemtamab/"}],"trial":[{"id":"fortifi-hn01","kind":"trial","name":"FORTIFI-HN01","route":"/trials/fortifi-hn01/"},{"id":"liger-hn1","kind":"trial","name":"LiGeR-HN1","route":"/trials/liger-hn1/"}]}}