Cancer drug developed by Faron extends life expectancy in severe cases30 May 2025 07:54
Pharmaceutical company Faron Pharmaceuticals has reported promising results from an early-stage study of its development drug bexmarilimab. The Phase I results have been published in The Lancet Haematology.
Bexmarilimab in combination with azacitidine demonstrated significant efficacy in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), achieving a 100 percent response rate in untreated HR-MDS patients and an 89 percent response rate in those who had failed prior therapy.
"It is rare to see such strong responses in such a difficult-to-treat patient group. The result gives hope when current treatments no longer help," says the study's principal investigator, Docent Mika Kontro from the University of Helsinki, in an English-language press release published by the company.
A total of 33 patients in Finland and the United States received treatment. Adverse events were mainly mild to moderate, and only six percent of them were directly related to bexmarilimab. No serious dose-limiting adverse events were observed.
In addition to treatment responses, the drug appeared to extend the patients' lives. The median survival time for MDS patients who failed HMA therapy was 13.4 months – significantly longer than with current treatments, which often last 5–6 months. Two patients were able to undergo stem cell transplantation after treatment.
"These results show that bexmarilimab may even enable transplant treatments. It's not just an experiment, but a potential game-changer," says Professor Naval Daver from MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The study also found an activation of the immune response: the number of HLA-DR molecules increased in 67 percent of patients who had failed previous treatment. This supports the drug's supposed mechanism of action, in which the defense system surrounding the cancer tissue is activated.
Faron's bexmarilimab is an experimental immunotherapy that targets the Clever-1 receptor. The goal is to break the cancer's ability to evade the body's immune system and enhance the effectiveness of other treatments. The drug is currently being studied in Phase II clinical trials.
"We have a strong reason to continue developing bexmarilimab. These results oblige us to take the research forward," says Juho Jalkanen , CEO of Faron .
https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/kl/084bd87e-03a2-46ca-be5e-c84265e915b1
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