{"entity":{"id":"nimotuzumab","kind":"drug","name":"Nimotuzumab","aka":["h-R3"],"tldr":"Nimotuzumab is a Cuban-developed antibody against EGFR approved in India, China, Cuba and other countries for head and neck cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer and brain tumours, usually with radiotherapy; it causes far less rash than cetuximab but has never been approved in the United States or Europe.","summary":"Nimotuzumab was developed at Cuba's Center of Molecular Immunology and is marketed through partners in India (BIOMAb EGFR), China (Taixinsheng), Cuba and more than 25 other countries. Approvals cover squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, high-grade glioma in children and adults, and in some countries oesophageal and pancreatic cancer. Its intermediate affinity means bivalent binding only on cells with dense EGFR, which gives it a milder toxicity profile than cetuximab. Randomised trials from India and China show improved locoregional control and survival with chemoradiotherapy in head and neck cancer, but the drug has not been submitted to the FDA or EMA.","status":"established","asOf":"2026-09-08","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimotuzumab","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimotuzumab"},{"label":"ChEMBL CHEMBL2108574","url":"https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl/explore/compound/CHEMBL2108574"}],"tags":["gap-fill","chembl-universe"],"related":[],"cancers":["head-and-neck","glioblastoma","esophageal"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":["egfr"],"drugs":["cetuximab"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"notes":[],"brand":"BIOMAb EGFR / TheraCIM / CIMAher","modality":"Humanised anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody, intravenous","mechanism":"Binds the extracellular domain of EGFR with moderate affinity, so it accumulates mainly on cells with high receptor density and spares normal skin, which explains its mild rash.","approvals":[],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/nimotuzumab/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"glioblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Glioma & glioblastoma","route":"/cancers/glioblastoma/"},{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"},{"id":"esophageal","kind":"cancer","name":"Oesophageal cancer","route":"/cancers/esophageal/"}],"target":[{"id":"egfr","kind":"target","name":"EGFR","route":"/targets/egfr/"}],"drug":[{"id":"cetuximab","kind":"drug","name":"Cetuximab","route":"/drugs/cetuximab/"}]}}