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Cantargia presents anti-metastatic effects of nadunolimab in cancer models at AACR 2023

Cantargia (Cantargia AB; Nasdaq Stockholm: CANTA) today presented preclinical data for its lead asset nadunolimab (CAN04) in two different models of metastatic cancer. A nadunolimab surrogate antibody reduced the metastatic burden and counteracted the activity of protumor functions in the metastatic microenvironment. The data were presented as a poster at the AACR Annual Meeting 2023 (AACR 2023), held in Orlando.

“Ongoing clinical trials of nadunolimab have shown encouraging efficacy signals. As the spread of metastases is a very serious component of the cancer disease, these new data are truly exciting and increase our knowledge of nadunolimab's mechanism of action,” said Göran Forsberg, CEO of Cantargia.

Nadunolimab is an IL1RAP-binding antibody with a dual mechanism of action; it stimulates killing of tumor cells via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and blocks tumor-promoting signaling via the molecules IL-1alpha and IL-1beta. The preclinical data presented at AACR 2023 support the significance of these functions and show that a nadunolimab surrogate antibody potently reduced the number of lung metastases in two different in vivo tumor models.

The metastatic microenvironment contains various tumor-supporting immune cells capable of facilitating tumor establishment and growth. Detailed analyses of the metastatic lung tissue showed large accumulation of immune cells with higher levels of IL1RAP, the target of nadunolimab, compared to healthy tissue. Notably, the nadunolimab surrogate was shown to modify the lung microenvironment by altering levels of various markers which could potentially affect the accumulation and function of tumor-supporting immune cells. These effects on the metastatic microenvironment provide important insights into nadunolimab’s anti-metastatic properties.

These preclinical data are presented in detail at AACR 2023 in a poster with more information found below, and are now also available on Cantargia’s webpage (https://cantargia.com/en/research-development/publications). The abstract for this presentation was previously disclosed and can be found here.

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
Presenter: Dr. Elin Jaensson Gyllenbäck

Nadunolimab is currently investigated clinically in pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and triple-negative breast cancer in combination with chemotherapy. Positive interim data from the combination with chemotherapy indicate stronger efficacy than would be expected from chemotherapy alone. A clinical phase II/III trial of nadunolimab in combination with chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer is currently in preparation.

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 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 OS of 12.9 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 6.8 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 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).