US Gives Go-Ahead for Cantargia's Phase IIb Pancreatic Cancer Trial

Swedish biotechnology firm Cantargia has received the green light to initiate patient recruitment for a phase IIb clinical trial focusing on metastatic pancreatic cancer. The trial, set to commence mid-2024, will evaluate the efficacy of nadunolimab as a first-line combination therapy alongside standard chemotherapy treatments. The company's CEO, Göran Forsberg, highlighted the significance of this regulatory approval, citing promising early results with the antibody in treating pancreatic cancer.

The PANFOUR trial will explore the use of nadunolimab at two dosage levels in conjunction with standard chemotherapy. It will include a control group receiving only chemotherapy. Approximately 150 patients are expected to participate, with data reviews planned after 60 patients have been enrolled. Recruitment will take place in the US and several European countries, pending regulatory approval. The study's timeline is contingent upon ongoing financing discussions.

Cantargia specializes in developing antibody-based treatments for severe diseases, utilizing a platform centered on IL1RAP, a protein implicated in various cancers and inflammatory conditions. The company's flagship program, the antibody nadunolimab, is being clinically tested primarily in combination with chemotherapy, targeting pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer. Preliminary data suggests that these combinations could be more effective than chemotherapy alone.

Nadunolimab functions by binding to IL1RAP, inducing antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and blocking IL-1 signaling pathways, which are known to contribute to the immune suppressive tumor microenvironment and resistance to chemotherapy. The antibody is currently under investigation in several clinical trials, with positive interim results indicating durable responses and improved survival rates in patients with pancreatic cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.