Faron Pharmaceuticals Limited (AIM:FARN) CEO, Dr Juho Jalkanen, talked with Proactive about the company’s planned €40 million rights offering and the next development stage for its lead immunotherapy candidate, bexmarilimab.
In the interview, Jalkanen explained that the planned capital raise comes at what he described as a pivotal stage for the company. Faron Pharmaceuticals has completed an open-label Phase 1/2 trial evaluating bexmarilimab in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which produced encouraging results. The company is now preparing to advance the program into a blinded, randomised Phase 2 trial — considered the gold standard in pharmaceutical development.
Jalkanen highlighted that the main goal of the upcoming study is to measure complete remission rates among patients receiving the treatment. He explained that the key milestone will arrive relatively quickly once patients are enrolled. As he noted, “the absolute key and primary goal of the study is the complete remission rate readout… usually comes after three or so months after patients have gone on drug.”
The CEO also emphasised the broader potential of bexmarilimab beyond MDS. According to Jalkanen, strong data from the earlier trial has generated significant interest among physicians, who are now initiating investigator-led studies exploring the therapy across multiple cancer types and in combination treatments.
Funding from the proposed raise is expected to extend Faron Pharmaceuticals’ cash runway into late 2027, supporting the randomised Phase 2 study while additional investigator-initiated trials generate data in the meantime. Jalkanen said this approach should create a steady flow of clinical updates for investors as the program progresses.
Proactive: Juho, very good to speak to you again. You're planning a €40 million rights offering, so why is this the right time for Faron to raise capital?
Dr Juho Jalkanen: This is a pivotal stage to be raising the capital. As you may remember, we have completed our open-label Phase 1/2 trial in higher-risk MDS with exceptional results. Now, after discussions with the FDA, it is time to move forward and do the same thing in a blinded randomised trial — the gold standard in pharma. Delivering that will be a big value-driving period for the company.
Proactive: As you say, the raise will help fund that randomised Phase 2 trial of bexmarilimab in high-risk MDS. What are the key milestones the study is designed to deliver?
Dr Juho Jalkanen: The absolute key and primary goal of the study is the complete remission rate readout. That usually comes about three months after patients have gone on the drug. It takes about three months to reach remission, and that is when the readout will come.
Proactive: The release also said part of the proceeds will support investigator-initiated trials across several cancers. How important is that in demonstrating the broader potential of bexmarilimab?
Dr Juho Jalkanen: That is super important for us. We have always stated that with these exceptional results in high-risk MDS — one of the most difficult cancers out there — there is a lot of enthusiasm around BEX. We believe it has a lot of potential across several cancers, not just MDS. With the excitement and good data, physicians want to test BEX in a number of combinations and in different cancers.
Dr Juho Jalkanen: So there will be a lot of data generated over the near term.
Proactive: With the funding expected to extend the runway into late 2027, what progress should investors expect from the program over the next 18 to 24 months?
Dr Juho Jalkanen: The most important thing is the blinded randomised Phase 2b trial in frontline high-risk MDS, which is expected to read out in late 2027. Meanwhile, investigator-initiated trials will be ongoing. These open-label Phase 1/2 studies will generate data while we wait for that major readout. For a company of our size, with this level of funding, we expect an exceptional amount of data and news flow.