Captor Therapeutics Presents Compelling In Vivo Proof-of-Concept Data from CT-01 Program in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

• Data confirm strong anticancer activity of two lead compounds in CT-01 program
  
  
• Results support advancement of CT-01 compounds towards IND expected in late 2022

WROCŁAW, Poland, Jan. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Captor Therapeutics S.A. (WSE:CTX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of targeted protein degradation (TPD) drugs for cancer and autoimmune diseases, announces preclinical proof-of-concept data from one of its core pipeline projects designated CT-01, which is focused on the development of TPD therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

The in vivo proof-of-concept data confirm the potent antitumor activity of two CT-01 lead compounds in a liver cancer mouse xenograft model and demonstrate that oral administration of these two CT-01 candidates results in complete tumor regression in a Hep 3B2.1-7 mouse model of HCC. Strong and comparable efficacy was demonstrated in both therapeutic groups (100mg/kg bid and 300mg/kg bid). Simultaneously, the data demonstrate the tolerability of both CT-01 candidates, as no treatment-related toxicity was observed.

"These preclinical data represent a significant milestone in the development of one of our core pipeline projects," said Dr Tom Shepherd, Chief Executive Officer of Captor Therapeutics. "Hepatocellular carcinoma is a very common cancer, but remains difficult to treat with few effective therapies and poor prognosis for most patients. The strong regression of tumors in a liver cancer model shown in our proof-of-concept study is extremely encouraging and supports further work on the CT-01 project. We will now look to progress one of these compounds towards Investigational New Drug Application (IND)-enabling studies."

CT-01 is Captor Therapeutics' second pipeline project to produce in vivo data recently, following positive pharmacological results from the CT-03 project. Both sets of in vivo data provide further evidence of the potential of the Company's Optigrade™ targeted protein degradation platform to discover and develop molecular glue- and bifunctional-type degraders with good druggable properties against high-value targets.

The company will provide more detailed information during an online investor call next week.

About Project CT-01 and HCC

The purpose of Project CT-01 is to develop, based on targeted protein degradation technology, a drug candidate which will stop the progress of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and potentially offer significant benefits for patients. HCC, a form of liver cancer, constitutes a significant unmet medical need since most patients are diagnosed at a late stage of the disease, and present treatments bring limited benefits in terms of overall survival rate. With ~700,000 new cases each year, HCC constitutes the second most common cause of cancer mortality. In patients diagnosed early, surgical removal of the tumor remains the only effective therapy. In unresectable HCC, the best reported outcome is the combination of Atezolizumab (Tecentriq®) plus Bevacizumab (Avastin®), where 19.2 months median Overall Survival (OS) and 29.8% Overall Response Rate (ORR) were reported in the IMbrave150 study, indicating that there remains a dramatic need for new treatments.

About Captor Therapeutics

Captor Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on leveraging Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) technology to discover and develop breakthrough drug candidates in diseases with high unmet medical needs. TPD is a revolutionary approach to developing new drugs that can address novel molecular targets which are deemed “undruggable” with classical drug development approaches, as well as providing additional treatment options for diseases where existing drugs fail to provide an optimal medical benefit. Captor is currently developing therapeutics for undertreated severe conditions, including malignancies and autoimmune diseases. 

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