– SWEDEN – Cantargia, a private biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of leukemia, announces the conclusion of the first step in their financial plan and reinforces the board.
As a first step in a long term financial strategy Cantargia has received a capital injection of 3 MSEK from its current main shareholder, LU Bioscience AB (LU Bio). After the financing, LU Bio´s shareholding in Cantargia amounts to 59,2%.
Sven Andréasson has been appointed as chairman of the board. Sven Andréasson has extensive experience in both pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He was CEO of Active Biotech AB in Lund during 1999-2008 and subsequently CEO of Beta-Cell NV in Belgium. From March 2012 to November 2013 he was CEO of Isconova AB in Uppsala, initiating the acquisition of the company by Novavax Inc. where he now holds a position as advisor and Director in Novavax AB. In addition, he has held a vast number of senior management positions within Pharmacia in Sweden, Germany, Belgium and France.
Lars Larsson is an MD with board certificates in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine and Allergy. He defended his PhD thesis in 1995 and he is Associated Professor in pulmonary medicine at the University of Umeå. He has been active in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry since 1995, including positions as Director, Medical Department, Astra Draco, VP Medical and Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacia Diagnostics AB and VP and CMO Biolipox AB. Most recently he was Executive Medical Director Licensing in AstraZeneca from 2007 to 2013. At present Lars Larsson is senior partner at TranScrip Partners, London, UK.
The other board members of Cantargia are Lars H. Bruzelius (Chairman LU Bio), Claus Andersson (Partner Sunstone Capital) and Thoas Fioretos (Co-founder of Cantargia).
Cantargia is now entering a new phase in the company development. The lead monoclonal antibody has shown remarkable results in in vivo disease models and is entering into late pre clinical development. Greater focus will be on business development and commercial partnerships where the experience of both Sven Andréasson and Lars Larsson will be of great value.
We wish to thank both Mats Strömqvist and Olof Tydén for their services and valuable collaboration during their time on the board.
About Cantargia AB
Cantargia is based on the original discovery, by Prof Thoas Fioretos and Dr Marcus Järås, that leukemic stem cells in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) express a cell-surface receptor, whereas corresponding normal stem cells do not express this receptor. Stem cells from patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) has also been shown to have and upregulation of the receptor. Cantargia uses this receptor, the Interleukin-1 receptor accessory protein (IL1RAP), as the target for development of a novel antibody-based therapy for leukemia. Cantargia is committed to creating and developing antibody therapeutics to revolutionize the treatment of leukemia and attention has been achieved already, both scientifically and from the pharmaceutical community.
Cantargia’s major shareholder is LU Bio with 59,2% ownership. Furthermore Sunstone Capital , the Founders, Innovagen and Microlund are shareholders in the company.
About LU Bio
Founded in May 2007 by Lund University AB, LU Bio is playing an important role in Lund University’s innovation system. Through selective investments and appropriate development plans, combined with experienced management teams, we aim to achieve a significant increase in the value of our investment holdings.
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