Cantargia (Cantargia AB; Nasdaq Stockholm: CANTA) today reported publication of promising preclinical data supporting the potential of the anti-IL1RAP antibody CAN10 as treatment of atherosclerosis. The data, published in the journal ‘Cardiovascular Research’, shows that IL1RAP-blockade reduced the development of atherosclerotic plaques as well as reduced the plaque inflammation. Atherosclerosis is a huge future opportunity within the CAN10 project.

“CAN10 is currently investigated in a phase I clinical trial, following promising effects in a number of disease models of autoimmunity or inflammatory diseases. Atherosclerosis is one such disease with a very high medical need that affect a vast number of patients and the publication in a high impact journal underscores the interest and potential of CAN10 outside its lead indications myocarditis and systemic sclerosis” said Göran Forsberg, CEO of Cantargia.

Atherosclerosis is the main underlying cause of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, and the leading cause of death in western societies. It is a chronic inflammatory vascular disease characterized by atherosclerotic plaque formation in the arterial wall. A high degree of inflammation in the atherosclerotic plaque is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and molecules involved in plaque inflammation are therefore considered important therapeutic targets.

The published data demonstrate that IL1RAP may be one such promising target that is expressed on various inflammatory cells in the atherosclerotic plaques. Therapeutic treatment with a CAN10 surrogate antibody resulted in a significant reduction in plaque burden and a reduced plaque inflammation, through both attenuated accumulation of inflammatory cells as well as a reduced expression of inflammatory mediators in the plaques of mCAN10 treated mice. Collectively, this strongly suggests that CAN10 treatment can have a positive effect on atherosclerosis and plaque inflammation, supporting the notion that IL1RAP represents a novel therapeutic target in this disease. These data were generated in collaboration with Dr. Daniel Engelbertsen’s research group at Lund University. Key data from these studies have previously been presented as a poster at the European Atherosclerosis Society Congress in 2022.

The article, titled “IL1RAP blockade limits development of atherosclerosis and reduces plaque inflammation”, is authored by Mulholland et al. and is available via the following link.

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