Cantargia presents positive results for nadunolimab at AACR 2023 including new clinical data in pancreatic cancer

Cantargia (Cantargia AB; Nasdaq Stockholm: CANTA) today reported that two abstracts on its lead asset, the antibody nadunolimab (CAN04), have been selected for poster presentation at the AACR Annual Meeting 2023 (AACR 2023). A key finding is that pancreatic cancer (PDAC) patients with high tumor levels of IL1RAP, the target of nadunolimab, benefit most from nadunolimab combined with chemotherapy. This further strengthens previously reported signs of clinical efficacy of nadunolimab in PDAC. The abstract disclosing these and additional biomarker data has now been published, as well as a second abstract on anti-metastatic effects in models of cancer. AACR 2023 is held in Orlando on 14-19 Apr 2023.

“We are thrilled to be presenting new results at the AACR Annual Meeting, one of the biggest conferences for cancer research. The new findings strengthen the positive results when nadunolimab is added to first-line chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer and strongly support our controlled clinical trials,” said Göran Forsberg, CEO of Cantargia.

Clinical results and biomarkers in PDAC
Results from the phase I/IIa clinical trial CANFOUR, which evaluates nadunolimab combined with chemotherapy in first-line PDAC, have shown stronger efficacy of the combination than expected from chemotherapy alone. New findings based on analyses of tumor biopsies from these patients indicate that high tumor levels of IL1RAP correlate with better response to treatment, including longer progression-free survival and overall survival. This suggests that the interaction between nadunolimab and IL1RAP is integral to the positive effects reported in PDAC. Patients with the strongest treatment-related reductions of serum IL-6, IL-8 and CRP, markers related to the mode-of-action of nadunolimab, also display favorable efficacy. Updated and more detailed results will be presented in the poster at AACR 2023, details of which can be found below:

Published abstract number: 2172
Abstract title: Tumor IL1RAP levels and reduction in serum biomarkers correlate with response in PDAC patients treated with nadunolimab, an anti-IL1RAP monoclonal antibody, in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel
Session category: Clinical Research Excluding Trials
Session title: Biomarkers of Therapeutic Benefit 3
Session date and time: Monday Apr 17, 2023 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM ET

Preclinical results in models of cancer
New preclinical results for nadunolimab will also be presented at the meeting in a second poster. These data demonstrate that a surrogate antibody for nadunolimab reduces the number of lung metastases in two different tumor models. Detailed analyses of the lung tissue also show that the surrogate antibody regulates genes associated with cell migration and activation, indicating an effect on the environment in metastatic tissue. Details of this poster can be found below:

Published abstract number: 6429
Abstract title: A surrogate to the anti-IL1RAP antibody nadunolimab induces tumor microenvironment changes to the metastatic lung and reduces metastatic lesions in mouse models of metastatic cancer
Session category: Immunology
Session title: Immunotherapy Strategies and Mechanisms
Session date and time: Wednesday Apr 19, 2023 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM ET

Abstracts for both posters can be accessed at https://www.aacr.org/meeting/aacr-annual-meeting-2023/.

An R&D Day presenting Cantargia’s ongoing development including the new results in PDAC is planned for late April 2023, following AACR 2023.

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 21.30 CET on 14 March 2023.

About Cantargia
Cantargia AB (publ), reg. no. 556791-6019, is a biotechnology company that develops antibody-based treatments for life-threatening diseases and has established a platform based on the protein IL1RAP, involved in a number of cancer forms and inflammatory diseases. The main program, the antibody nadunolimab (CAN04), is being studied clinically primarily in combination with chemotherapy with a focus on pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. Positive interim data for the combinations indicate stronger efficacy than would be expected from chemotherapy alone. Cantargia’s second development program, the antibody CAN10, blocks signaling via IL1RAP in a different manner than nadunolimab and 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 nadunolimab (CAN04)
The antibody nadunolimab binds strongly to its target IL1RAP and functions by inducing ADCC and blocking IL-1α and IL-1β signaling. Nadunolimab can thereby counteract the IL-1 system which contributes to the immune suppressive tumor microenvironment and development of resistance to chemotherapy. Nadunolimab is investigated in multiple clinical trials; the phase I/IIa trial CANFOUR evaluates nadunolimab in combination with standard chemotherapies in patients with PDAC (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel) or NSCLC (cisplatin/gemcitabine) (NCT03267316). Positive interim data show durable responses for the combination therapy in 73 PDAC patients, resulting in median iPFS of 7.2 months and median survival of 12.7 months. Strong efficacy was also observed in 30 NSCLC patients with median PFS of 6.8 months and a response rate of 53%; even higher responses were observed in non-squamous NSCLC patients previously treated with pembrolizumab. Early efficacy data from the phase Ib/II trial TRIFOUR (NCT05181462) also shows signs of promising efficacy in TNBC with a 50% response rate for nadunolimab combined with carboplatin/gemcitabine. Nadunolimab is also investigated with chemotherapy in the clinical trials CAPAFOUR (NCT04990037) and CESTAFOUR (NCT05116891), and with the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in the CIRIFOUR trial (NCT04452214).

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