Comments from the Senior Medical Advisor
With a drug at hand that blocks the fractalkine system, opportunities are opened to help patients who have great medical needs to be met.
Torbjörn Lundström, Senior Medical Advisor
Read More New class of drugs for cancer and inflammation
Kancera is a world leader in developing small molecule drugs for cancer and inflammation.
The company’s two main drug candidates are KAND567 in phase II for treatment of acute inflammatory conditions, and KAND145 in clinical preparatory studies prior to the start of phase I for treatment-resistant ovarian cancer.
Kancera is listed on Nasdaq OMX First North Premier since 2016. The company is based at Karolinska Institutet Science Park in Stockholm, a world-leading center for medical innovations.
Kancera's Senior Medical Advisor Comments on Fractalkine
Why develop drugs against the fractalkine system?
Intensive research on the role of the fractalkin system in connection with inflammation and cancer shows that this control system can determine whether certain immune and cancer cells are allowed to pass from the blood into different tissues, which can, for example, complicate inflammatory conditions. In addition, the system facilitates the ability of cancer cells to repair themselves. No existing treatment can inhibit the fractalkin system, which means that today we lack this opportunity to counteract worsening inflammatory conditions or to prevent cancer from developing resistance to common standard treatments with chemotherapy. With a drug at hand that blocks the fractalkine system, opportunities are opened to help patients who have great medical needs to be met.”
What is the role of Kancera?
“Kancera has contributed to this development by inventing and developing several patented drug candidates that block the fractalkine system. Kancera is now a world leader in the clinical development of these small molecule drug candidates and has shown both safety and pharmacological effect in seriously ill patients. Now our efforts are focused on evaluating clinical benefit in patients with advanced cancer and acute inflammation in several planned and ongoing clinical studies.”
Torbjörn Lundström, Senior Medical Advisor
Background
Kancera is run by a team with solid experience and the well-documented ability to translate discoveries of new disease mechanisms into drug candidates and to develop these through the clinic to a strong market position. Together, the team has solid knowledge from innovative research organizations within AstraZeneca, Pharmacia, Biovitrum and Karolinska Institutet.
Kancera has mainly focused on cancer and inflammatory diseases. As research consultants, Kancera’s team has carried out projects for pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies in the USA as well as in Europe. Among these assignments is, for example, the development of the chemistry that laid the foundation for Enasidenib, a drug that has been marketed since 2017 by the American pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb for the treatment of acute leukemia (AML).
Vision
Kancer's vision is to become a leading player in the development of new drugs that contribute to a normalized life for the patient and more efficient care.
Mission
Kancera's mission is to translate medical discoveries into pharmaceutical products that show clinical potential for the treatment of cancer and inflammation.
Strategy
Commercialization of drug candidates is expected to take place in partnership with internationally established drug companies according shown efficacy profile in phase II patients. In this phase, early clinical drug projects are judged to provide the greatest return on invested capital.
Strategic partnerships for the commercialization of Kancera’s drug candidates are mainly based on option agreements with a focus on:
- out-licensing
- sales
- or jointly coordinated product development that may mean that Kancera retains certain market rights and shares others with its industrial partner.
The final agreement structure is determined by the company’s strategic priorities at the time of the transaction regarding short- and long-term financial goals. Partial payments from partners are expected to be made at signature, milestones in product development typically in connection with sub-steps in clinical development, at registration and on the market.
The guiding force of Kancera’s drug development is strategic collaboration with world-leading researchers, clinics and established technical expertise, driven by common goals and long-term, mutual value creation.
Management
Kancera's team has solid experience of drug development and research within, among others, AstraZeneca, Pharmacia, Biovitrum and Karolinska Institutet. The experience is based on operational responsibility for research and development that has led to discoveries of new disease mechanisms and product development through clinical phases for the benefit of patients.
Board of Directors
Kancera's board consists of individuals with long experience from leading positions in their area of specialization.
Chairman of the Board, lawyer Erik Nerpin, has over 20 years of experience in the field of business law. Professor Petter Brodin, MD PhD, Charlotte Edenius, MD PhD, Anders Gabrielsen, Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin and Professor Håkan Mellstedt are all scientific advisers and board members of Kancera.
Collaborations and Partnerships
Collaborations and partnerships are part of Kancera’s strategy for effective progress towards scientific, clinical and commercial goals for the pharmaceutical projects. Kancera provides unique drug candidates to the dedicated team of experts of scientific and commercial partners with which the company collaborates. The conditions for cooperation build a strong foundation for long-term and mutually rewarding cooperation.
Here are examples of some of Kancera’s ongoing collaborations.
Red Glead Discovery: Medicinal chemistry
Eurofin Panlabs: Analyses of drug candidate selectivity
LCBKI, SciLifeLab: Chemical screening library
Bioreperia AB: Disease models in zebrafish
Professor Thomas Helleday at Karolinska Institutet: Cancer models for the PFKFB3 and the fractalkine-projects
Gaël Roué (PhD) Head, Lymphoma Translational Group. Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute: Disease models for the ROR-project
Professor Camilla Svensson at Karolinska Institutet. EU-funded consortium in molecular pain research in the fractalkine projects
CrownBio: Preclinical cancer models
Meditox: Toxicology studies
Admescope: Metabolite studies
Chempartner: Pharmacokinetics
Lena Conradi (MD,PhD) chief physician and surgeon at Göttingen University Medical Center (Germany): Human disease models of rectal cancer for the PFKFB3 project
Professor Håkan Mellstedt at Karolinska Institutet: Cancer models for the ROR and the fractalkine projects
Recipharm AB: Formulation, stability studies and production of pharmaceutical product
NCK and Ardena: Production of drug substance
Q&Q: Bioanalytical studies
Scandinavian CRO and CRST: Clinical studies
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: The FRACTAL-Phase 2 study
Professor Ioakim Spyridopoulos at Newcastles Freeman Hospital: Myocardial infarction studies in the fractalkine projects
Professor Petter Brodin at Karolinska Institutet: Biomarkers and “long covid” studies in the fractalkine projekts
Would you like to work at Kancera?
At Kancera, a close-knit team works in a small organization. Each employee is, in many ways, their own boss as well as a close teammate.
Kancera has no current vacancies. When new vacancies occur they will be published here.