(Alliance News) - Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy on Wednesday said the latest observations from its trial of cancer drug bexmarilimab were especially promising.
Shares in Faron were up 29% at 445.00 pence in London in afternoon trading.
The drug maker's phase 1/2 Matins clinical trial is investigating bexmarilimab's tolerability, safety and preliminary efficacy. The Precision cancer immunotherapy targets Clever-1, a receptor that promotes tumour growth and prevents the immune system from attacking tumour cells.
The most recent scientific observations from Matins "include the identification of a new role for soluble Clever-1, related to its capacity to control T-cell activation."
This would suggest that inactivation of Clever-1 as an immune suppressor may be "broader and more important" than Faron had previously believed, since "immune-stimulating effects are not only limited to tumour associated macrophages but may also act systemically".
Macrophages are a type of immune cell that detects, engulfs, and destroys pathogens as well as cancer cells.
Faron Chief Executive Markku Jalkanen said: "Never during my career have I seen that a high baseline count of regulatory T cells predicts a good response to a therapy. Until now, it has always been the opposite. This is remarkable. Such observations now provide us with a much better understanding of the next steps required for bexmarilimab's clinical development in pivotal studies and support its potential as a breakthrough therapy to deliver optimal clinical results in patients with hard to treat cancers.
"The new discovery of the role of soluble Clever-1 as an immune suppressive molecule is striking, indicating the soluble part of this receptor could cause systemic inhibition of T-cells in all locations of body, therefore controlling the general immune capacity in cancer patients. We hope to be able to overcome this inhibition just by increasing the dosing frequency of bexmarilimab to provide maximal binding and the removal of Clever-1 from body fluids and tissues, including tumours."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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Faron Pharma (FARN)