(Sharecast News) - Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Faron Pharmaceuticals announced plans to initiate a new "state-of-the-art" process for the manufacturing of 'interferon' (IFN) beta-1a on Monday.
The AIM-traded firm added that in support of that, it had received a €2.1m (£1.89m) low interest rate loan from Business Finland, the country's governmental innovation financing agency.
It said the loan funds would be used to develop and select a new cell line that could be used for future commercial-scale production of Faron's human IFN beta-1a.
"This is a very important initiative backed by the Finnish government," said chief executive officer Dr Markku Jalkanen.
"We have a good existing stock of IFN beta-1a, but given the on-going clinical trials - REMAP-CAP and the WHO's Solidarity Trial - and the potential for increasing future demand of IFN beta-1a for Covid-19 and other viral infections like influenza we need to begin up-scaling our manufacturing capacity."
Faron said the loan was for a period of seven years, with loan repayment only starting after three years.
Interest would be three percentage points below the Finish base rate of interest, subject to a minimum rate of 1%.
At 1115 BST, shares in Faron Pharmaceuticals were down 2.2% at 325.5p.
Faron Pharma (FARN)3 May 2024 13:39
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