NANOBIOTIX announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (?US FDA?) issued a Study May Proceed Letter for a randomized Phase 2 study evaluating NBTXR3 for the treatment of patients with stage 3, unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (?NSCLC?). An IND to support this trial was submitted by the global trial sponsor, Johnson & Johnson Enterprise Innovation Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company. NBTXR3 is a novel, potentially first-in-class oncology product composed of functionalized hafnium oxide nanoparticles that is administered via one-time intratumoral injection and activated by radiotherapy.

Its proof-of-concept was achieved in soft tissue sarcomas for which the product received a European CE mark in 2019. The product candidate?s physical mechanism of action (MoA) is designed to induce significant tumor cell death in the injected tumor when activated by radiotherapy, subsequently triggering adaptive immune response and long-term anti-cancer memory. Given the physical MoA, Nanobiotix believes that NBTXR3 could be scalable across any solid tumor that can be treated with radiotherapy and across any therapeutic combination, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Radiotherapy-activated NBTXR3 is being evaluated across multiple solid tumor indications as a single agent or in combination with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, including in NANORAY-312?a global, randomized Phase 3 study in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancers. In February 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration granted regulatory Fast Track designation for the investigation of NBTXR3 activated by radiation therapy, with or without cetuximab, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced HNSCC who are not eligible for platinum-based chemotherapy?the same population being evaluated in the Phase 3 study. Given the Company?s focus areas, and balanced against the scalable potential of NBTXR3, Nanobiotix has engaged in a collaboration strategy to expand development of the product candidate in parallel with its priority development pathways.

Pursuant to this strategy, in 2019 Nanobiotix entered into a broad, comprehensive clinical research collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to sponsor several Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies evaluating NBTXR3 across tumor types and therapeutic combinations. In 2023, Nanobiotix announced a license agreement for the global co-development and commercialization of NBTXR3 with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV.