Candel Therapeutics is a late stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on helping patients fight cancer with oncolytic viral immunotherapies. Its lead candidates include CAN-2409, previously known as gene mediated cytotoxic immunotherapy (GMCI™) and CAN-3110, a herpes simplex virus platform previously referred to as rQNestin34.5.
The most advanced product candidate, CAN-2409 is based on an off-the-shelf, replication-deficient engineered adenovirus that causes immunogenic tumor cell death, stimulating a hyper-immunogenic microenvironment and generating a robust and precise systemic response from the patient's own immune system against their cancer. CAN-2409 has been evaluated in more than10 clinical trials, 7 of which are ongoing, across multiple indications including prostate, brain, pancreas and lung cancers. With over 700 patients dosed to date, CAN-2409 has shown a favorable safety profile.
The lead program is undergoing a phase 3 registration clinical trial for the treatment of localized prostate cancer under a Special Protocol Assessment agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If successful and approved, this product candidate would be the first new therapeutic pharmaceutical available for localized prostate cancer patients in over 30 years. In addition, CAN-2409 is advancing to a phase 3 trial for patients with newly diagnosed malignant glioma.
The second product candidate, CAN-3110, is an oncolytic viral immunotherapy approach that uses a genetically modified oncolytic herpes simplex virus engineered for enhanced potency. The product candidate has been designed to replicate only in the presence of a specific tumor cell protein. This product candidate is currently being tested in a phase 1 clinical study in patients with recurrent malignant glioblastoma.