On November 21, 2017 Kancera reported that it performs the second partial payment for the Fractalkine project (Press release, Kancera, NOV 21, 2017, View Source;releaseID=1396141 [SID1234522211]). According to the agreement with Acturum Real Estate AB, the second partial payment for the Fractalkine project is due when the drug candidate KAND567 has been given to a certain number of subjects in the ongoing Phase Ia study.Therefore, Kancera announces that two millions of the company’s shares have been newly issued to Acturum Real Estate AB.
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Kancera AB (publ) has previously announced the Board’s decision to acquire the Fractalkine project by Acturum Real Estate AB. Payment for the Fractalkine project takes place through a three-stage offset issue with a total of up to 6 million shares in Kancera AB, of which now 4 million shares have been paid. Partial payments are due as the project develops to certain milestones up to the start of the second clinical study.
About the Fractalkine project
KAND567 is an orally available small molecule that blocks CX3CR1, the Fractalkine receptor. Fractalkine is an immune-modulating factor, a so-called chemokine, which transmits signals via the CX3CR1 receptor, thereby controlling the function of immune cells and cancer cells. The levels of Fractalkine molecules and CX3CR1 receptors have been shown to be elevated in several inflammatory diseases, in cancer and in chronic pain conditions.
Kancera’s drug candidate KAND567 is the most advanced drug candidate against CX3CR1 and has been shown to be effective against inflammation and pain in multiple preclinical disease models.
In the healthy individual, Fractalkine and its receptor, CX3CR1, regulate migration of immune cells from the blood capillary wall into areas where the immune system is needed. Cancer cells use the same system (CX3CR1 and Fractalkine) to invade healthy organs and form metastases. In addition, the presence of Fractalkine has been associated with a lack of effect of immuno-oncological drugs. Therefore, Kancera evaluates how well KAND567 can stop tumor growth.
Animal studies show that Fractalkine’s receptor is not essential for survival and that important immune functions remain intact despite the lack of receptor. The basis for successful development of KAND567 lies in effectively addressing local inflammation while maintaining a healthy immune system.
In clinical trials, blocking of the Fractalkine system has been shown to have the desired effect against auto-immune diseases such as Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis in refractory patients. These studies have been conducted by the pharmaceutical company Eisai using a monoclonal antibody. The results of these studies indicate that the probability increases for the Kancera AB drug candidate KAND567 to achieve clinical and commercial success as the first small-molecule drug that works through the Fractalkine system to combat many common diseases.