US-based AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem (KRX:051910) company, announced on Wednesday that the 20mg/kg dose of ficlatuzumab has been chosen for the combination arm of the Phase 3 registrational FIERCE-HN clinical trial following the planned first interim analysis.

The ongoing FIERCE-HN trial continues to enrol patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) and aims to recruit 410 to 500 patients.

The global, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial is evaluating ficlatuzumab in combination with ERBITUX (cetuximab), an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody, as compared to placebo plus cetuximab, in patients with HPV-negative R/M HNSCC.

Ficlatuzumab is AVEO's investigational antibody that targets hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).