Faron receives grant from Business Finland

Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy

("Faron" or the "Company")

Faron receives €800,000 grant from Business Finland as part of Cancer IO, Finland's leading Personalized Health Program

-      Grant will enable state-of-the-art characterization of immunological responses in MATINS trial
-      Clevegen to be studied in experimental combinations with anti-cancer molecules from other consortium members

Company announcement, 11 May 2020 at 12.00 PM (EET)
Inside information

TURKU - FINLAND - Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (AIM: FARN, First North: FARON), the clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, announces today that it has joined a Finnish consortium,  Cancer IO, and received an €800,000 grant from Business Finland to conduct detailed, state-of-the-art characterization of the immunological responses seen in cancer patients in the Company's MATINS trial.

The ongoing phase I/II MATINS clinical trial is investigating the tolerability, safety and efficacy of Clevegen, Faron's wholly-owned novel precision cancer immunotherapy targeting Clever-1 positive tumour associated macrophages (TAM), in selected metastatic or inoperable solid tumours.

As part of the Business Finland backed initiative, Faron will also study Clevegen in combination with other anti-cancer molecules, in experimental settings together with other consortium members. 

Cancer IO is a new cancer immunotherapy-focused €10 million top-level collaborative research and innovation project within Business Finland's Personalized Health Program. Coordinated by the University of Helsinki, it integrates immuno-oncology (IO) activities at the universities of Helsinki and Turku, three Finnish university hospitals and one central hospital, eight Finnish SMEs, Finnish cancer patient organizations and nine of the largest IO-investing pharmaceutical companies operating in Finland. Cancer IO has been established to drive the creation of a Finnish IO ecosystem and national IO growth strategy, aiming to provide wealth and well-being through disruptive Nordic IO innovations and better care. Faron's participation in this significant national immuno-oncology effort will include sharing clinical development expertise and samples from ongoing trials, and providing Clevegen for consortium experiments.

Dr. Markku Jalkanen, Faron's CEO, said: "We are very pleased to join this leading initiative, which will deepen our understanding of Clevegen's effects during the MATINS trial, enable us to better characterize and understand the immune responses of patients receiving novel treatments, test different therapies in combination with Clevegen in a variety of laboratories and experimental settings, as well as possibly find new leads to take further into development."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ("MAR").

For more information please contact:

Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy

Dr Markku Jalkanen, Chief Executive Officer

[email protected] 

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited, Nomad and Broker

Emma Earl, Freddy Crossley (Corporate Finance)

James Stearns (Corporate Broking)

Phone: +44 207 886 2500

Sisu Partners Oy, Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North

Juha Karttunen, Jussi Majamaa

Phone: +358 (0)40 555 4727

Consilium Strategic Communications

Mary-Jane Elliott, David Daley, Lindsey Neville

Phone: +44 (0)20 3709 5700

E-mail: [email protected]

About Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Faron (AIM: FARN, First North: FARON) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for medical conditions with significant unmet needs. The Company currently has a pipeline based on the receptors involved in regulation of immune response in oncology and organ damage. Clevegen, its precision immunotherapy, is a novel anti-Clever-1 antibody with the ability to switch immune suppression to immune activation in various conditions, with potential across oncology, infectious disease and vaccine development. Currently in phase I/II clinical development as a novel macrophage checkpoint immunotherapy for patients with untreatable solid tumours, Clevegen has potential as a single-agent therapy or in combination with other standard treatments including immune checkpoint molecules. Traumakine, the Company's pipeline candidate to prevent vascular leakage and organ failures, has completed a phase III clinical trial in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Plans for its future development are being finalised to avoid interfering steroid use together with Traumakine. Faron is based in Turku, Finland. Further information is available at www.faron.com 

Caution regarding forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should", "expect", "hope", "seek", ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.

A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results and expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. In particular, the early data from initial patients in the MATINS trial may not be replicated in larger patient numbers and the outcome of clinical trials may not be favourable or clinical trials over and above those currently planned may be required before the Company is able to apply for marketing approval for a product.  In addition,  other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially include the ability of the Company to successfully licence its programmes within the anticipated timeframe or at all, risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions, competition, environmental and other regulatory changes, actions by governmental authorities, the availability of capital markets or other sources of funding, reliance on key personnel, uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors.  Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or any relevant AIM Rule requirements, in providing this information the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of the forward-looking statements or to advise of any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.