BOSTON: Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd (AIM: FARN, First North: FARON), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on building the future of immunotherapy by harnessing the power of the immune system to tackle cancer and inflammation, today announces that the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics published research examining the discovery and preclinical development of bexmarilimab, Faron’s wholly-owned investigational precision cancer immunotherapy.
The paper, titled “Nonclinical characterization of bexmarilimab, a Clever-1-targeting antibody for supporting immune defense against cancers” is available online at: https://aacrjournals.org/mct/article/doi/10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-21-0840/696262/Nonclinical-characterization-of-bexmarilimab-a.
The manuscript details early research from the bexmarilimab program and explores the hypothesis that Clever-1, a protein that is highly expressed in a subset of immunosuppressive human tumor-associated macrophages and is associated with poor patient outcomes following treatment with currently approved checkpoint inhibitors, is a novel target for the development of next generation immunotherapies.
Tumor-associated macrophages are one of the main contributors to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and the inhibition of Clever-1 has been demonstrated to convert immunosuppressive M2 macrophages into immunostimulatory M1 macrophages. In the paper, the authors discuss the potential of Clever-1 as a therapeutic target and that downregulating Clever-1 could lead to T-cell activation and restoration of an immune response in cancer patients.
Reporting the humanization and nonclinical characterization steps used to determine the physicochemical properties, biological potency, and safety profile of bexmarilimab, the authors conclude that bexmarilimab could induce an immunostimulatory tumor microenvironment that leads to anti-tumor efficacy. They also state that there is a solid rationale for the continuing development of bexmarilimab for the treatment of difficult-to-treat cancers by providing permanent immune stimulation through targeting myeloid cell function.
“This research underlines the strength of the science behind our bexmarilimab program. It is widely known that tumor progression is profoundly influenced by interactions of the cells within the tumor microenvironment, which makes it a critical area of focus for the development of new immunotherapies,” said Marie-Louise Fjällskog, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Faron. “With bexmarilimab, targeting the Clever-1 protein on tumor-associated macrophages, we have an opportunity to switch their activity from being immunosuppressive to become immune-stimulating, enabling them to both mount an immune response of their own and activate other immune cells to infiltrate the tumor. Our ongoing clinical development program will enable us to further understand this potentially pioneering approach of harnessing the immune system to fight cancer”.
