Apr 8, 2024

Cantargia presents unique effects of nadunolimab in pancreatic cancer

Cantargia (Cantargia AB; Nasdaq Stockholm: CANTA) today presented new preclinical data for its lead candidate, the IL1RAP-binding antibody nadunolimab (CAN04) at the AACR Annual Meeting. The data show that nadunolimab targets a fundamental property of PDAC tumors, fibrosis, through a strong impact on tumor promoting stromal cells. The results support the promising clinical efficacy of nadunolimab in PDAC patients and also highlight the broad and unique mode of action of nadunolimab.

“These new exciting results provide an important mechanistic context supporting the clinical results obtained with nadunolimab. The data also provide new opportunities to follow biomarkers during treatment. More speculatively, these results may also provide important tools for Cantargia’s second clinical program CAN10 which is designed to treat inflammation and fibrosis in autoimmune diseases,” said Göran Forsberg, CEO of Cantargia.

One factor that significantly contributes to the poor treatment response in PDAC is the high abundance of tumor-supporting stroma, driven by the excessive activity of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Pro-C3 is a biomarker for that activity which also correlates with aggressive disease and short survival. The new data demonstrate that IL-1α and IL-1β, that are upregulated in PDAC, induce formation of type III collagen in cancer-associated fibroblasts as measured by pro-C3. The data also show that when PDAC cancer cells and CAFs are cultured together, pro-fibrotic genes and the production of pro-C3 are upregulated. Notably, addition of nadunolimab to these cultures inhibited the formation of pro-C3. Thus, the new data highlight the potential for nadunolimab to counter the detrimental, fibrotic microenvironment in PDAC tumors and this effect may be documented by measuring the biomarker pro-C3.

These findings support the promising clinical data previously presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting 2022, at the AACR annual meeting in 2023 and at the AACR special conference on pancreatic cancer in 2023. In over 70 PDAC patients evaluated in the phase IIa part of the clinical trial CANFOUR, nadunolimab in combination with chemotherapy results in efficacy well above historical controls for chemotherapy alone. Currently, Cantargia is preparing a phase IIb clinical trial in first line PDAC with a planned start during summer 2024.

The data was generated in collaboration with Nordic Bioscience and Lund University and will be presented by Dr. Nicholas Willumsen from Nordic Bioscience A/S at the AACR Annual Meeting April 5-10 in San Diego, California. The poster has now been published on the conference website (link) and can also be obtained on Cantargias website (link). A summary of the poster abstract was announced on March 5, 2024.

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-1alpha and IL-1beta 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 interim 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 30 NSCLC patients with median PFS of 7.0 months and a response rate of 53%; 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. 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.