Kancera provides operational update on the ROR project
2014-10-03
Kancera reports that an initial efficacy study of KAN0439834 (a small molecule inhibitor of ROR1) has been completed in an animal model of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Preliminary results show that KAN0439834 reduces the number of ROR-expressing leukemia cells after 7 days of treatment in the examined organs of the animals. Deeper and more comprehensive analyzes are performed in order to verify the preliminary findings and to investigate the full effect of the treatment with KAN0439834 in the lymphatic system, which often suffers from infiltrating leukemia cells that are difficult to treat. Following this a decision can be made whether to select a first candidate drug in the ROR project.
The conducted animal study is based on primary cancer cells from patients which adds clinical relevance to the model. Further studies during Q3 2014 have been performed to characterize the pharmaceutical properties of KAN0439834. Overall, the findings suggest that oral administration of KAN0439834 can provide a concentration of the substance in the blood sufficient to reach the desired effect against cancer cells.
About the ROR project
ROR is a family of receptors, ROR1 and ROR2. The ROR receptors mediate signals for growth and survival. Originally ROR was linked to fetal development, but it is now known that they also contribute to cancer cell development and proliferation. Professor Håkan Mellstedt, Kancera´s co-founder and professor at the Karolinska Institute, and his colleagues have shown that Kancera´s ROR inhibitors have the ability to kill cells from tumors in pancreas, and leukemia cells. Professor Mellstedt and his colleagues as well as independent researchers have shown that ROR is also active as a target in prostate, breast, skin and lung cancer.
Because ROR primarily generates a survival and growth signal to tumor cells but is inactive in healthy cells in adults, there are good prospects that a drug directed against ROR hit the tumor much harder than the surrounding healthy cells. Kancera and Professor Mellstedt have shown that inhibition of ROR leads to that cancer cells eliminate themselves by cellular suicide. Against this background, there are reasons to anticipate that a ROR-targeted drug is both safer and more effective than several chemotherapies currently used to treat cancer.
About Kancera AB (publ)
Kancera develops the basis for new therapeutics, starting with new treatment concepts and ending with the sale of a drug candidate to international pharmaceutical companies. Kancera is currently developing drugs for the treatment of leukemia and solid tumors, based on blocking survival signals in the cancer cell and on addressing cancer metabolism. Kancera’s operations are based in the Karolinska Institutet Science Park in Stockholm and the company employs around 10 people. Kancera shares are traded on NASDAQ OMX First North and are held by around 5400 shareholders as of March 31, 2014. Remium Nordic AB is Kancera’s Certified Adviser. Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin and Professor Håkan Mellstedt are Kancera´s scientific advisers.
For additional information, please contact:
Thomas Olin, CEO: Tel +46 735 20 40 01
Address:
Kancera AB
Karolinska Institutet Science Park
Banvaktsvägen 22,
SE 171 48 Solna,Sweden
Please visit the company’s web www.kancera.com