Innate Pharma SA announced that, per the licensing agreement for lirilumab, Bristol-Myers Squibb has paid Innate Pharma a USD 15 million milestone payment for the continued exploration of lirilumab in combination with Opdivo (nivolumab). This milestone payment follows the presentation at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer annual meeting (November 2016) of encouraging preliminary activity results from the cohort of patients with Squamous Cell Cancer of the Head and Neck (SCCHN) of a Phase I/II trial. These interim efficacy results - the first report for the combination of an anti-KIR antibody and an anti-PD-1 therapy - indicate that targeting both pathways with lirilumab and nivolumab respectively may provide enhanced clinical activity, particularly in PD-L1 positive tumors, with deep and durable responses in some patients.