# NBTXR3 (hafnium oxide nanoparticles)

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/nbtxr3/  
OnCo record `nbtxr3` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

NBTXR3 is Nanobiotix's radioenhancer: a single injection of hafnium oxide nanoparticles that makes ordinary radiotherapy hit harder inside the tumour. It carries a European CE mark for soft-tissue sarcoma and is in a phase 3 trial in head and neck cancer with Johnson and Johnson.

## Summary

NBTXR3 was developed by Nanobiotix in Paris. In the Act.In.Sarc phase 2/3 trial, adding the nanoparticles to preoperative radiotherapy for locally advanced soft-tissue sarcoma doubled the rate of pathological complete response, and the product received a CE mark (as Hensify) in 2019. The NANORAY-312 phase 3 trial tests it with radiotherapy, with or without cetuximab, in elderly patients with head and neck cancer who cannot have cisplatin, under a 2023 licence to Johnson and Johnson; trials with immunotherapy in lung and other cancers continue.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: phase-3
- Last checked: 2026-09-16
- Also known as: Hensify; JNJ-90301900
- Tags: radiation-wave3
- Code: NBTXR3
- Modality: Hafnium oxide nanoparticle radioenhancer, injected into the tumour
- Mechanism: Crystalline hafnium oxide nanoparticles injected once into the tumour absorb X-rays far more strongly than tissue and release showers of electrons, multiplying the energy deposited inside the tumour without changing the dose to surrounding organs.
- Approvals: EU 2019: CE mark: locally advanced soft-tissue sarcoma of the limb or trunk wall, with preoperative radiotherapy

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov: trials of NBTXR3: https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?intr=NBTXR3

## Connected records

- cancers: [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/), [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/)
- technologies: [IMRT / IGRT (modern external beam)](https://onco.cc/technologies/imrt-igrt/), [Radiosensitisers](https://onco.cc/technologies/radiosensitisers/)
- companies: [Nanobiotix](https://onco.cc/companies/nanobiotix/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/nbtxr3.json