CAN1012
DrugCAN1012 is an IFN-α biased, long-acting, highly selective TLR7 agonist, which acts as an immune modulator capable of priming both innate and adaptive immunity against tumors. It has previously been shown on intralesional injection to turn "cold" tumors "hot" through several mechanisms:
- CAN1012 activates plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), producing robust IFN-α but minimal IL-6 or TNF;
- IFN-α primes NK and CD8+ T cell maturation and release of cytotoxic granules to kill tumor cells;
- IFN-α promotes mature cDCs to migrate to tumor draining lymph nodes and present tumor antigens to CD4+ T cells;
- Chemokines induced by TLR7 stimulation recruit inflammatory cells into the tumor microenvironment (TME).