据报道，一项研究显示，这种实验性抗癌药物未能帮助患有头颈部鳞状细胞癌的患者延长生存期或延缓病情恶化。
SE said an experimental cancer drug didn’t help volunteers with a form of head and neck carcinoma live longer without the disease progressing in a study.
该药物属于基于信使RNA的免疫疗法，在试验中与广受欢迎的抗癌药Keytruda联合使用，目前仍在进一步验证这种联合疗法是否能提升患者的整体存活率。
The medicine, a form of immune system training based on messenger RNA, was combined with the blockbuster Keytruda in the trial, which continues to determine whether the combination can help with another key goal — overall survival — compared with Keytruda alone.
在盘前交易中，BioNTech在美国上市的股价一度下跌6.1%。
US-listed shares in BioNTech fell as much as 6.1% in premarket trading.
这一结果对这家以新冠疫苗闻名全球的德国生物技术企业而言是个挫折。
The findings are a setback for the German biotech, which rose to prominence with its Covid-19 vaccine.
mRNA技术既是其新冠疫苗的核心基础，也是其癌症治疗研发的关键。
The technology underpinning the vaccine — mRNA — is an important part of its cancer strategy.
该公司最初就是以癌症治疗为定位创立的，并在疫情期间利用丰厚收益大力推动肿瘤学研究。
The company was founded as a cancer company and used much of its pandemic windfall for oncology advances.
此次试验的药物名为BNT113，主要用于治疗携带HPV16病毒且体内有PD-L1蛋白表达的头颈部鳞状细胞癌患者——这类病例中约三分之一与HPV感染相关。
The experimental drug is called BNT113 and was tested as a first-line treatment for patients with human papillomavirus 16-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma expressing the protein PD-L1.
BioNTech方面指出，此类疗法的初期试验结果不理想实属常见现象，因为人体的免疫反应可能随时间推移而逐步增强。
About a third of the cases are associated with HPV infection. BioNTech said a first negative readout for such therapies isn’t unusual, as the immune responses may evolve and deepen over time.
该公司还列举了多个类似案例：诸如Keytruda这种药物最初试验虽未达标，但最终仍获得了监管部门的批准。
It pointed to examples of clinical trials that first failed and ultimately gained regulatory approval — including pembrolizumab, which is sold as Keytruda.