Recipharm and the cancer drug development company Kancera have signed a contract for the development and manufacture of the pharmaceutical candidate KAND567.

Kancera’s pharmaceutical candidate KAND567 works by blocking the Fractalkine system and has been shown in preclinical disease models to effectively counteract the onset of autoimmune disorders, as well as neuritis and pain in connection with chemotherapy against cancer. In future clinical studies, Kancera intends to treat patients with the pharmaceutical candidate KAND567 filled into capsules and taken orally.

As part of the collaboration, Recipharm will develop the preparation that is required for release of KAND567 from the capsules, as well as manufacturing the pharmaceutical product. The work will be performed at the contract development and manufacturing organization’s (CDMO) development facility in Solna.

“We are happy to be able to contribute to the development of a new drug with the potential to be of great medical value,” said Torkel Gren, general manager at Recipharm in Solna.”We have extensive experience in developing drugs for clinical trials as well as commercial manufacture and this will be very valuable in the collaboration with Kancera.”

Thomas Olin, chief executive officer, Kancera, said, “The decision to commence development of capsules for an active dosage of KAND567 shows that Kancera has reached an important milestone in the Fractalkine project. We are delighted to now be collaborating with Recipharm to produce the pharmaceutical product that will be used to study how KAND567 can help patients.”