Progress in research and development related to CT-03 project

Current Report No. 9/2022

Date of preparation: 24 February 2022

Subject: Progress in research and development related to CT-03 project 

Legal basis: Art. 17(1) of MAR – inside information

The Management Board of Captor Therapeutics S.A., with its registered office in Wroclaw (the "Company"), with reference to the current report no. 27/2021 dated 28 September 2021, hereby announces significant scientific progress in the CT-03 project which is focused on the development of drugs to treat several types of cancers by degrading the MCL-1 protein drug target. Captor’s first-in-class MCL-1-targeting degrader drugs have the potential to be used in the treatment of a number of haematological malignancies, small cell lung cancer (SCLC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) - cancers with very high market needs.

Following on from an earlier single dose study announced in current report no. 27/2021 from 28 September2021, an independent contract research organisation working on behalf of the Company concluded a multiple dose proof-of-concept efficacy experiment which specifically monitored tumour volumes, and obtained data showing that a CT-03 candidate compound shows compelling efficacy in shrinking human tumours implanted in mice. This data is an important milestone towards the selection of the drug candidate to be advanced to clinical phase. These new results demonstrate that once a day administration of Company’s MCL-1 degrader results in tumour regression in the MV-4-11 mouse model of acute myeloid leukaemia. A strong anticancer effect was observed at both dose levels used, 75 mpk (milligrams per kilogram) and 150 mpk. In the previous study, only the dose of 150 mpk was used.

This new preclinical data is fully consistent with previously reported single dose study data on the pharmacological effects of these compounds in animals reported late last year. Together, these studies demonstrate that CT-03 lead compounds cause the efficient degradation of the MCL-1 target in implanted human tumour cells, induce apoptosis in these cells, and  as a result, cause the shrinkage or regression of the tumour.

This data supports the further advancement of the Captor’s candidates towards the next milestones of Candidate Selection and IND- enabling studies. Simultaneously, these results demonstrate the capability of the Company to rationally discover and optimise bifunctional degrader-type drug candidates using its Optigrade^TM platform.

The Company will inform about further progress in CT-03 project in accordance with legal requirements.