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LONDON (Alliance News) - Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd on Thursday said early results from a trial of its Clevegen cancer drug are encouraging.
Shares in Faron were up 10% at 64.00 pence on Thursday.
Faron said its Matins clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of Clevegen "is advancing as expected" and dosing has moved to the second level with no signs so far of toxicity.
Clevegen is intended to treat cancer by re-activating the body's own immune response to tumours. Early data from the first two patients dosed in the Matins trial showed that a single dose produced an increase in certain kinds of immune cells, which are important in immunity.
"The company believes these findings, while limited to the trial's first three patients (one case of melanoma and two colorectal cancers), are encouraging," Faron said.
Two UK sites will be opened to expand the trial and the company is also seeking to open sites in the US. Faron is presently in talks "with several parties" to partner over the development of Clevengen, either as a single therapy or in combination with another drug.
"We are very encouraged by these findings, and by the potential early clinical benefits indicated through the biochemical and tumour load indicators, following several lines of previous ineffective treatments. These biomarker data will prove valuable to help determine the optimal dose as the trial continues and we look forward to generating further data to assess durability of effect and efficacy in a larger number of patients," Faron Chief Executive Markku Jalkanen said.
