Cantargia presents new preclinical data on antibody CAN10 at IMMMUNOLOGY2021

Cantargia AB today announced that new data on the antibody CAN10 will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI), Virtual IMMUNOLOGY2021. The abstract has now been published and discloses that the interleukin-1 receptor accessory binding protein (IL1RAP) reactive antibody CAN10 counteract inflammation and disease development in models of peritonitis,  psoriasis and myocarditis.

Cantargia develops antibody-based pharmaceuticals against IL1RAP. The lead project CAN04 is in phase IIa clinical development for treatment of cancer while the second project CAN10 is in preclinical development towards autoimmunity/inflammatory diseases. The CAN10 antibody binds IL1RAP with high affinity and functions through simultaneous blockade of IL-1, IL-33 and IL-36 signaling. Inhibition of these signals can be of significant value in the treatment of several autoimmune or inflammatory diseases. Cantargia has initially focused the CAN10 development towards treatment of myocarditis and systemic sclerosis. Clinical development is planned to be initiated early 2022.

The new data disclosed in the abstract “Blocking IL1, IL33 and IL36 signaling by an anti-IL1RAP antibody is an efficient anti-inflammatory treatment that improves heart function in a model of autoimmune myocarditis” by Sara Rattik and coworkers will be presented as a poster at the AAI annual scientific conference, Virtual IMMUNOLOGY2021, to be held May 10-15, 2021. The results show unique properties of mCAN10 (an anti-mouse IL1RAP surrogate antibody) in counteracting inflammation, that is not recapitulated by IL-1 blockade only. The antibody could also inhibit disease development in models of peritonitis, psoriasis and myocarditis. The latter indication is one of the lead indications in the CAN10 development and the surrogate antibody counteracted inflammation and improved heart function in this model. These experiments show the benefit of targeting IL1RAP in inflammatory disease, including myocarditis. The abstract is published at the conference website https://www.immunology2021.org/ and relates to communication from March 2021 to present new CAN10 data at a scientific conference.

For further information, please contact
Göran Forsberg, CEO
Telephone: +46 (0)46-275 62 60
E-mail: goran.forsberg@cantargia.com

This is information that Cantargia AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 15.00 CET on 26 April 2021.

About Cantargia
Cantargia AB (publ), reg. no. 556791-6019, is a biotechnology company that develops antibody-based treatments for life-threatening diseases. The basis for this is the protein IL1RAP that is involved in a number of diseases and where Cantargia has established a platform. The main project, the antibody CAN04, is being studied clinically as combination therapy with chemotherapy or immune therapy with a primary focus on non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. Positive interim data from the combination with chemotherapy show a higher response rate than would be expected from chemotherapy alone. Cantargia’s second project, the antibody CAN10, addresses treatment of serious autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, with initial focus on systemic sclerosis and myocarditis.

Cantargia is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (ticker: CANTA). More information about Cantargia is available at www.cantargia.com.

About CAN04
The antibody CAN04 binds strongly to the target IL1RAP and functions both though ADCC as well as blocking IL-1α and IL-1β signaling. Thereby, CAN04 can counteract the contribution of the IL-1 system to the immune suppressive tumor microenvironment and development of resistance to chemotherapy. CAN04 is investigated in two clinical trials. In the first phase I/IIa-study, CANFOUR, first line combination therapy is investigated using two different standard chemotherapies in 31 patients with NSCLC (gemcitabine/cisplatin) and 31 patients with PDAC (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel), as well as monotherapy in late stage patients (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03267316). Phase I monotherapy data from 22 patients were presented at ASCO 2019 and showed good safety with infusion related reaction being the most common side effect. In addition, the biomarkers IL6 and CRP decreased during treatment. Positive interim data from the combination arms was presented during H2 2020 and showed a higher response rate than expected from chemotherapy alone. A phase I study investigating CAN04 in combination with an immune checkpoint inhibitor started H2 2020 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04452214). Additional clinical combination studies are planned to start during 2021.

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