Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (LON:FARN) (First North:FARON) said the US Patent and Trademark Office granted a new patent protecting the composition of matter of its novel precision cancer immunotherapy drug candidate, bexmarilimab.
The biopharma firm said the patent will be issued on June 29 and will cover bexmarilimab's binding sequences as well as specific elements of the antibody-antigen binding site on the Clever-1 receptor.
READ: Faron Pharmaceuticals flags up latest research assessing the potential of bexmarilimab in advanced cancer patients
Bexmarilimab is designed to reprogramme Clever-1 positive macrophages from an immunosuppressive state to an immune-stimulating one, which is believed to be a key immune defence against the growth and spread of cancerous tumours.
The patent expiry date is expected to be 2037, Faron said, adding that the same patent has already been granted in Japan with applications under review in other territories including Europe and China.
"We are extremely pleased to receive this key patent approval which grants us market exclusivity up to 2037. This patent protection applies specifically to the binding process between bexmarilimab and its target, the Clever-1 receptor found on the surface of tumour associated macrophages in the tumour microenvironment”, Faron chief executive Markku Jalkanen said in a statement.
“This novel binding is key to the conversion of these highly immunosuppressive macrophages to immune-stimulating ones that can target difficult-to-treat cancers, and key to the removal of soluble Clever-1 from remote locations, where it can prevent activation of immune cells. The patent is a welcome addition to our existing global IP portfolio for targeting Clever-1 and further strengthens the long-term potential of this next-generation macrophage reprogramming immunotherapy", the CEO added.