Nov 5, 2024

Cantargia presents promising preclinical results on nadunolimab with antibody-drug conjugates at major immuno-oncology conference

Cantargia (Cantargia AB; Nasdaq Stockholm: CANTA) today reported preclinical results on potential synergism between nadunolimab and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapies. The new findings show that ADCs, just like chemotherapy, induce both tumor promoting as well as neuropathy inducing signals that can be counteracted by nadunolimab. Results will be presented in a poster session at the upcoming Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), 2024 annual meeting.

“Cancer therapy using ADC strategies is an area of major interest. The synergies presented around nadunolimab and ADCs have a huge commercial potential”, said Göran Forsberg, CEO of Cantargia.

Traditional chemotherapy can induce the release of inflammatory factors (IL-1α and IL-1β), which act as “danger signals” and promote tumor growth, chemotherapy resistance, and immune suppression. In addition, these factors also stimulate inflammation-related damage to the nervous system, contributing to chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

ADCs, a form of guided missile delivering cytotoxic drugs (“payloads”) precisely into the cancer cells via the antibody part of the molecule, is a groundbreaking approach in cancer therapy and the next generation of chemotherapy. ADCs have an edge over traditional chemotherapies as they are widely recognized for their improved tolerance levels and precise target recognition, sparing the healthy cells around the tumor. However, as for traditional chemotherapy, ADCs can also induce treatment resistance and side effects such as neuropathy.

Cantargia’s new preclinical data shows that ADCs (or payloads) increase the expression of IL-1α and IL-1β when interacting with cancer cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, or immune cells. In addition, the data also demonstrates potent inhibition of IL-1 signaling in these ADCs-treated cell culture systems when combined with a nadunolimab surrogate antibody. Furthermore, experiments reveal pronounced payload-driven neuropathic effects in a mouse model of neuropathy.

Neuropathy is a common and serious side effect of several chemotherapies or ADCs. Neuropathy often leads to the drop out of patients from an otherwise effective cancer therapy. Our preclinical as well as clinical findings strongly claim that nadunolimab combined with either standard chemotherapies or ADCs is a potential therapy to increase anti-tumor effects and alleviate neuropathy.

The preclinical data were generated in collaboration with University of Queensland, Australia and will be presented in detail in a poster session at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), 39th annual meeting Nov 6-10, 2024. More information on the poster session is found below:

Poster number: 1303
Poster title: Antibody drug conjugate (ADC) payload-induced IL1 suggests potential for anti-IL1RAP therapy combination for enhanced treatment efficacy and prevention of neuropathy
Session date and time: November 08, 2024

The poster will be presented at the SITC annual meeting 2024 in Houston on Nov 8 from 9am local time by Dr Elin Jaensson Gyllenbäck from Cantargia. The poster related to the presentation will be uploaded on Cantargia’s webpage www.cantargia.com.

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. Cantargia’s oncology 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 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 hidradenitis suppurativa and systemic sclerosis.

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, NCT03267316, evaluates nadunolimab in combination with standard chemotherapies in patients with PDAC (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel) or NSCLC (platinum-based chemotherapies). Positive data show durable responses for the combination therapy in 73 PDAC patients, resulting in median iPFS of 7.2 months and median OS of 13.2 months. An even higher median OS of 14.2 months was observed in a subgroup of patients with high tumor levels of IL1RAP. Strong efficacy was also observed in 40 NSCLC patients with median PFS of 7.2 months and a response rate of 55%; even higher responses were observed in non-squamous NSCLC patients. Early efficacy data from the phase Ib/II trial TRIFOUR, NCT05181462, also shows signs of promising efficacy in TNBC with a 60% response rate for nadunolimab combined with carboplatin/gemcitabine.