Candel Therapeutics Announces Initial Positive Interim Data from Randomized Phase 2 Clinical Trial of CAN-2409 in Non-Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

• Initial positive interim data revealed notable improvements in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenorcarcinoma (PDAC) after experimental treatment with CAN-2409
• Estimated overall survival rate was 71.4% at 36 months in CAN-2409 treated patients versus 16.7% in the control arm after chemoradiation
• In patients with progressive disease, there was both a CA19-9 and a survival response to salvage chemotherapy in the CAN-2409 arm, but not in the control arm.
• Dense aggregates of immune cells, including CD8 positive granzyme B positive cytotoxic T cells, dendritic cells, and B cells, were observed in PDAC tissue after CAN-2409 treatment, confirming activation of a robust antitumoral immune response
• Safety analysis demonstrated that multiple injections of CAN-2409 were generally well tolerated, with no reported dose-limiting toxicities and no cases of pancreatitis
  

NEEDHAM, Mass., Nov. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (Candel or the Company) (Nasdaq: CADL), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing viral immunotherapies to help patients fight cancer, today announced initial positive interim survival and immunological biomarker data from the ongoing randomized phase 2 clinical trial of CAN-2409 plus valacyclovir (prodrug) together with standard of care (SoC) chemoradiation followed by resection for borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Data were presented today in a poster session titled ‘Neoadjuvant CAN-2409+Prodrug Plus Chemoradiation for Borderline Resectable or Locally Advanced Non-Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) at the 2023 Society for Immunotherapy (SITC) Annual Meeting.

“Given frequent recurrence and short survival with SoC chemotherapy for non-metastatic PDAC, effective new treatment options are urgently needed,” said Garrett Nichols, MD, MS, Chief Medical Officer of Candel. “We are encouraged by the improved survival associated with CAN-2409 for the treatment of borderline resectable PDAC, demonstrated for the first time in a randomized clinical trial. CAN-2409 was generally well tolerated without significant additional local or systemic toxicity when added to SoC chemoradiation.”