Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd (LON:FARN) has said fellow AIM life sciences group will Abzena plc (LON:ABZA) will manufacture the former’s Clevegen antibody.
Clevegen is part of the new generation of drugs being developed to stimulate the body’s immune system into fighting cancers.
There may be other applications for the treatment in areas such as chronic infections during vaccination.
Abzena will produce the master cell bank and manufacture the antibody for clinical development.
Founded by serial entrepreneur Dr Markku Jalkanen and based in Turku, Finland, Faron’s lead product, Traumakine, promises a breakthrough for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
The little known condition can affect people of any age and usually develops as a complication of an existing serious illness such as flu, pneumonia, sepsis or even severe trauma.
It is so serious that the mortality rate is between 30-45% and there is no recognised pharmaceutical treatment.
Faron has repurposed beta interferon (a drug normally used to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis) to tackle the life-threatening illness with remarkable results.
A study of 100 patients that received significant coverage in the Lancet medical journal revealed the Faron drug, called Traumakine reduced the death rate by 81%.
In the control group (so, those people who didn’t receive Traumakine) 32% died from ARDS.
That compares with an 8% in mortality rate in the tranche of patients that received the new treatment.
On the back of those results, Faron decided it would press ahead with a larger phase III trial to fully assess and stress test Traumakine’s efficacy.
This will take place at 55 hospitals across Europe. The first patient was recruited at the end of last year and the process will continue throughout 2016.