European Patent Office Cancels Oral Opposition Proceedings Concerning Cantargia's Patent for Solid Tumours

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

In the ongoing opposition proceedings at the European Patent Office ("EPO") concerning Cantargia AB's ("Cantargia") patent for antibody treatment against IL1RAP in solid tumours the EPO has informed the company that the oral proceedings that were due to take place on 22 January 2018 have been cancelled. 

In October 2016 MAB Discovery GmbH filed an opposition against Cantargia's European patent no. EP 2665749 B1 for antibody treatment against solid tumours. Opposition proceedings are common in high-tech industries and follow a set of formal rules. Following the EPO's preliminary examination report, in which the inventive merit of Cantargia's  antibody treatment of solid tumours was recognised, the opponent chose not to take part in the oral proceedings which had been scheduled for 22 January 2018. The EPO has now decided to cancel the oral proceedings and will be issuing a formal written decision. Based on current legislation and practice, Cantargia's patent protection in Europe for antibody treatment against IL1RAP in solid tumours, such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and malignant melanoma, is therefore expected to remain essentially unchanged.

"The opposition proceedings have not produced any new arguments against our approved patent and we are now awaiting the final decision", Göran Forsberg, Cantargia's CEO, says.

For further information, please contact

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

This constitutes information which Cantargia is required to publish under the EU's Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication through the above contact person on 9 January 2018, at 16:30.

About Cantargia

Cantargia AB (publ), reg.no. 556791-6019, is a biotech company that is developing antibody-based treatments for life-threatening diseases. The original discovery by the research team behind Cantargia was the overexpression of a specific target molecule, interleukin 1 receptor accessory protein (IL1RAP) in leukemic stem cells. Subsequent research has also identified IL1RAP in many other forms of cancer. The company's main project, the CAN04 antibody targeted at IL1RAP, is being studied in the CANFOUR clinical phase I/IIa study, where the primary focus is on non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. CAN04 has two modes of action: it blocks the function of IL1RAP and stimulates the immune system to destroy tumour cells. Cantargia's second project, currently in the research phase, is aimed at developing an IL1RAP-binding antibody that is optimised for treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Cantargia is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm First North (ticker: CANTA). Sedermera Fondkommission is the company's Certified Adviser. More information about Cantargia is available at http://www.cantargia.com.

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