Cantargia Presents new Preclinical Data on CAN04 in Combination With Chemotherapy at the 2020 AACR Annual Meeting

STOCKHOLM, May 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cantargia AB ("Cantargia") today announced that new preclinical data supporting the combination of the clinical stage antibody CAN04, with platinum-based chemotherapy will be presented in two poster presentations at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), June 22-24.

Cantargia develops antibody-based pharmaceuticals against interleukin-1 receptor accessory protein (IL1RAP). The antibody CAN04 binds IL1RAP with high affinity and functions through both Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC) and blockade of interleukin-1 signaling. CAN04 is investigated in an open label three-armed phase I/IIa clinical trial, CANFOUR, examining monotherapy as well as combination with two different standard chemotherapy regimes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer or pancreatic cancer (www.clinicaltrials.gov). 

During 2019, Cantargia reported positive preclinical data on the combination of CAN04 and platinum-based compounds and these studies together with new data from Cantargia will be presented at AACR. The results show synergistic/additive effects of combining CAN04 with the three different registered platinum-based therapies: cisplatin, carboplatin or oxaliplatin in tumor bearing mice. Clinically, these platinum compounds are often used as doublets with other chemotherapeutic agents and CAN04 also show strong effects when combined with two commonly used such doublets, cisplatin/gemcitabine and oxaliplatin/5-FU. In addition, in collaboration with BioReperia AB, new data is presented showing potent effects of CAN04 with cisplatin on tumor growth in a novel zebrafish xenograft screening system for anti-cancer drugs. The two abstracts can be accessed through the meeting website, https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/9045, the titles are "The anti-IL1RAP antibody CAN04 increases tumor sensitivity to platinum-based chemotherapy" and "Zebrafish patient tumor-derived xenograft models used for pre-clinical evaluation of CAN04 for lung and pancreatic cancer".

The AACR is one of the largest cancer research meetings in the world and is a key meeting place for scientists to discuss new ideas and concepts. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting is held virtually this year and posters will be presented in a virtual poster space. After the meeting, the posters can be downloaded through www.cantargia.com.

"We are pleased to present novel data on CAN04 in combination with chemotherapy at this major cancer conference. It confirms Cantargia's commitment to provide patients with life threatening diseases, novel innovative and safe therapeutic options," Göran Forsberg, Cantargia's CEO says.

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 08.30 CET on 15 May 2020.

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 in the clinical phase I/IIa CANFOUR study with a primary focus on non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. The study is focused on combination therapies, but also includes a monotherapy arm. Positive interim data from the combination therapies were presented in December 2019. 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 http://www.cantargia.com.

About CAN04
The antibody CAN04 binds IL1RAP with high affinity and functions through both ADCC and blockade of IL-1α and IL-1β signaling. CAN04 is investigated in an open label phase I/IIa clinical trial, CANFOUR, examining first line chemotherapy combination with two different standard regimes in 31 patients with NSCLC (gemcitabine/cisplatin) and 31 patients with PDAC (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel) as well as monotherapy in late stage patients (www.clinicaltrials.gov). The phase I monotherapy data from 22 patients were presented at ASCO 2019 and showed a good safety with infusion related reaction being the most common side effect. In addition, the biomarkers IL6 and CRP were decreased with treatment and 9/21 patients had stable disease. Positive interim data from the combination therapies were presented in December 2019. A phase I trial investigating CAN04 in combination with an immune checkpoint inhibitor is planned to start during 2020.

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

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