Faron
Pharmaceuticals Oy
("Faron"
or the "Company")
Faron founders and
bexmarilimab developers
selected as finalists for the European Inventor Award
2024
Press Release, May 16, 2024 at 9:00 (EEST) / 7:00 AM (BST) /
2:00 AM (EDT)
- Dr.
Markku Jalkanen and Dr. Sirpa Jalkanen, Faron's co-founders,
have been nominated as one of three
finalists in the 'SMEs' category of
prestigious European Patent Office Awards
- Nominated in recognition of research developing bexmarilimab, an investigational
immunotherapy optimising clinical outcomes in cancer
treatment
- Voting
now open for "Popular Prize" award ahead of ceremony on July 9 via
dedicated link:
Sirpa Jalkanen and Markku Jalkanen | Epo.org
TURKU, FINLAND / BOSTON,
MA - Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (AIM: FARN,
First North: FARON), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
pursuing a CLEVER approach to reprogramming myeloid cells to
activate anti-tumor immunity in hematological and solid tumor
microenvironments, today announces the nomination of its
co-founders, Dr. Markku Jalkanen and Dr. Sirpa Jalkanen, as
finalists in the 'SMEs' category of the European Inventor Award
2024.
Dr. Markku Jalkanen, co-founder,
Board member and former CEO of Faron, and Dr. Sirpa Jalkanen,
co-founder and member of Faron's Scientific Advisory Board, have
been nominated in recognition of their research developing Faron's
wholly owned precision cancer immunotherapy candidate, bexmarilimab. One of the most advanced
myeloid cell-targeting immunotherapy candidates in development,
bexmarilimab is designed
to target the Clever-1 receptor present on macrophages, activating
anti-tumor immunity in hematological and solid tumor
microenvironments to overcome resistance and provide better patient
outcomes.
Bexmarilimab is currently being investigated in the ongoing BEXMAB trial,
evaluating the candidate's safety and efficacy in combination with
standard of care (SoC) in patients with hypomethylating agents
(HMAs)-refractory or relapsed myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), an
aggressive myeloid leukemia with very few treatment
options.
In addition, every year, the public
can vote for their favorite inventor: the Popular Prize goes to the
shortlisted inventor with the most votes. The winners in each
category, and the winner of the Popular Prize, will be announced at
the online award ceremony on 9 July 2024. For further information
and to vote for the Popular Prize, visit:
Sirpa Jalkanen and Markku Jalkanen | Epo.org
Dr. Markku Jalkanen, Board member
and former CEO of Faron, said: "It is an honor to be recognized by
the European Patent Office and nominated for this prestigious
award. The continued progress of our ambitious bexmarilimab development program and
the exceptional data we are seeing in the ongoing Phase I/II BEXMAB
trial, reaffirms our belief in the potential of bexmarilimab to change the treatment
paradigm. These highly significant findings provide us with
continued confidence that bexmarilimab can improve the quality
of life of those suffering from these aggressive hematological
cancers, where there are limited options available for future
therapy."
Launched by the European Patent
Office in 2006, the European Inventor Award is one of Europe's most
renowned innovation prizes. This award recognizes people behind
successful inventions in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
and honors individuals who transform their ideas into solutions to
address some of the biggest challenges of our time.
For
more information please contact:
Faron Pharmaceuticals
Investor Contact
LifeSci Advisors
Daniel Ferry
Managing Director
daniel@lifesciadvisors.com
+1 (617) 430-7576
ICR Consilium
Mary-Jane Elliott, David Daley,
Lindsey Neville
Phone: +44 (0)20 3709
5700
E-mail: faron@consilium-comms.com
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP,
Nomad
Sandy Jamieson, Jo Turner
Phone: +44 (0) 207 213
0880
Peel Hunt LLP, Broker
Christopher Golden, James
Steel
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7418
8900
Sisu Partners Oy, Certified Adviser
on Nasdaq First North
Juha Karttunen
Phone: +358 (0)40 555
4727
Jukka Järvelä
Phone: +358 (0)50 553
8990
About Faron Pharmaceuticals
Oy
Faron (AIM: FARN, First North:
FARON) is a global, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company,
focused on tackling cancers via novel immunotherapies. Its mission
is to bring the promise of immunotherapy to a broader population by
uncovering novel ways to control and harness the power of the
immune system. The Company's lead asset is bexmarilimab, a novel anti-Clever-1
humanized antibody, with the potential to remove immunosuppression
of cancers through targeting myeloid cell function. Bexmarilimab is being investigated in
Phase I/II clinical trials as a potential therapy for patients with
hematological cancers in combination with other standard treatments
and as a monotherapy in last line solid cancers. Further
information is available at www.faron.com.
About BEXMAB
The BEXMAB study is an open-label
Phase 1/2 clinical trial investigating bexmarilimab in combination with
standard of care (SoC) in the aggressive hematological malignancies
of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
The primary objective is to determine the safety and tolerability
of bexmarilimab in combination with
SoC (azacitidine) treatment. Directly targeting Clever-1 could
limit the replication capacity of cancer cells, increase antigen
presentation, ignite an immune response, and allow current
treatments to be more effective. Clever-1 is highly expressed in
both AML and MDS and associated with therapy resistance, limited T
cell activation and poor outcomes.
About Bexmarilimab
Bexmarilimab is Faron's wholly owned, investigational immunotherapy
designed to overcome resistance to existing treatments and optimize
clinical outcomes, by targeting myeloid cell function and igniting
the immune system. Bexmarilimab binds to Clever-1,
an immunosuppressive receptor found on macrophages leading to tumor
growth and metastases (i.e. helps cancer evade the immune system).
By targeting the Clever-1 receptor on
macrophages, bexmarilimab alters
the tumor microenvironment, reprogramming macrophages from an
immunosuppressive (M2) state to an immunostimulatory (M1) one,
upregulating interferon production and priming the immune system to
attack tumors and sensitizing cancer cells to standard of
care.