Medivir AB (STO:MVIR) announced on Thursday that the first patient has been enrolled in a phase I study to investigate the safety and tolerability of a combination treatment of birinapant and radiation therapy in patients with recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Reportedly, the initiative for this study came from researchers at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI). The study is sponsored and financed as part of NCI's Cancer Therapy Evaluation Programme.

Medivir will provide birinapant and will be afforded full access to all reports from the study under its cooperative research and development agreement with NCI for birinapant, the primary goals of which are to evaluate the safety of the combination treatment and to establish a maximum tolerated dose for further studies. The potential signs of a treatment response in the patients are also being investigated.

According to Medivir, its decision to support this study was based on preclinical data from NCI showing good effects from birinapant in combination with radiotherapy in models of various types of cancer of the head and neck region.

Medivir develops innovative drugs with a focus on cancer where the unmet medical needs are high.