Cantargia

“We are very excited about the progress in the CAN10 program which is quickly advancing from the ongoing healthy volunteer investigations towards studies in patients. The new data provides important information further increasing our confidence in CAN10 as a future therapy of inflammatory diseases” said Göran Forsberg, CEO of Cantargia.

CAN10 is currently in phase I clinical development with transition from healthy volunteers to patients planned for Q3, 2024. One of the lead indications, systemic sclerosis, is a life-threatening autoimmune disease resulting in fibrosis in the skin, lung, and other internal organs. Current treatments focus on symptomatic treatment rather than addressing underlying disease mechanisms. It is estimated that in the US, approximately 100,000 patients suffer from the disease. CAN10 has orphan drug status in the US for treatment of systemic sclerosis.

The new results demonstrate that both the target for CAN10, IL1RAP, and the IL1RAP-dependent signaling molecules IL-1, IL-33 and IL-36, are upregulated in skin from systemic sclerosis patients. This disease develops as fibroblasts promote the formation of an excessive buildup of connective tissue in skin and internal organs, so-called fibrosis. The results show that IL-1, IL-33 and IL-36 collagen production on skin fibroblasts from systemic sclerosis patients, leading to fibrosis. These disease-associated mechanisms can be reduced by CAN10.

These new data strengthen previously reported beneficial effects of IL1RAP-blockade in three mouse models of systemic sclerosis, where treatment with a mouse surrogate of CAN10 reduced both skin and lung fibrosis. Additional gene expression analysis of mouse systemic sclerosis skin showed decreased expression of several key disease-related profibrotic factors in the skin by CAN10. In summary, the data show that CAN10 targets central processes important for systemic sclerosis and that CAN10 provides an opportunity to treat underserved systemic sclerosis patients.

These data were generated in collaboration with a world-leading research group headed by Prof. Dr. Jörg Distler at the Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany and will be presented as a poster at the 8th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress March 14-16, 2024 in Prague, Czech Republic. The poster is now also available at Cantargia’s web page https://cantargia.com/en/research-development/publications.

Title: Combined blockade of IL-1, IL-33 and IL-36 signaling by targeting IL1RAP ameliorates skin and lung fibrosis in preclinical models of systemic sclerosis
Session Title: Innovative therapies
Session Date and Time: Friday March 15th 1.30-2.30 pm and Saturday March 16th 1-2 pm
Poster Number: 317