REG - Faron Pharma. Oy - Faron Appoints Marie-Louise Fjällskog as CMO

Faron Pharmaceuticals OyAnnouncement

04/01/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 2488X  Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy  04 January 2022

Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd

("Faron")

 

Faron Appoints Marie-Louise Fjällskog, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer

 

 

Company announcement, January 4, 2022 at 02:00 AM (EST) / 07:00 AM (GMT) /
09:00 AM (EET)

 

 

TURKU, FINLAND / BOSTON, MA - 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, is pleased to announce the appointment of
Marie-Louise Fjällskog, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer of the Company.
Dr. Fjällskog will be based in Boston, MA and her appointment is effective
immediately.

 

Dr. Fjällskog has over 30 years of experience in clinical oncology,
translational research, and drug development. She joins Faron from Sensei
Biotherapeutics (SNSE), a Nasdaq listed immuno-oncology focused
biopharmaceutical company. As Chief Medical Officer at Sensei, she was
responsible for leading clinical and development strategy and operations. She
also played a key role in Sensei's successful $152 million IPO, which closed
in February 2021. Dr. Fjällskog holds both a Ph.D and an M.D. from Uppsala
University, Sweden where she currently serves as an Associate Professor of
Oncology.

 

In her new role, Dr. Fjällskog will join Faron's management team and provide
leadership and direction in accelerating the Company's clinical development
programs. Her primary focus will be bexmarilimab, Faron's wholly owned, novel
precision cancer immunotherapy candidate currently in development as a
potential monotherapy in patients with solid tumors. Faron is also advancing
plans to study bexmarilimab in the neoadjuvant setting, in combination with
checkpoint inhibitors and as a treatment for hematological malignancies.

 

"I am delighted to welcome Marie-Louise to Faron as our Chief Medical Officer
during what is a critical time for the Company as we accelerate the execution
of our ambitious clinical development programs, including our lead oncology
asset bexmarilimab," said Dr. Markku Jalkanen, Chief Executive Officer of
Faron. "With her extensive experience in oncology clinical development she is
expertly positioned to help advance our plans and progress development of what
we hope will be the first macrophage-targeting immunotherapy for patients with
hard-to-treat cancers."

 

"Faron's novel immunotherapy program has the potential to usher in a new era
of cancer treatment by unlocking the myeloid cell produced "hide me" signal
and igniting immune response in indications that have proven to be resistant
to current checkpoint inhibitor therapies," said Marie-Louise Fjällskog M.D.,
Ph.D. "I am thrilled to be joining the Company at such an exciting time and
look forward to helping accelerate the development of bexmarilimab as both a
monotherapy and in combination with other checkpoint inhibitors, which is
likely to further amplify the clinical benefit seen with bexmarilimab alone."

 

Prior to her role at Sensei Biotherapeutics, Dr. Fjällskog served as Vice
President, Clinical Development at Merus (MRUS) and Infinity Pharmaceuticals
(INFI) where she led development of multiple small molecule and immunotherapy
clinical programs and was responsible for the prioritization of preclinical
research. She was formerly Global Clinical Program Leader at the Novartis
Institute for Biomedical Research where she led global development of oncology
treatments targeting CDK4/6, BCL-2, PD-1, CSF-1 and CD73. Dr. Fjällskog also
serves on the Board of Biovica, a Swedish biotech company with a vision to
improve monitoring and predicting the efficacy of cancer therapies via novel
blood-based diagnostics and Lytix Biopharma, a clinical stage biotech
developing novel cancer immunotherapies based on pioneering research in "host
defense peptides" - nature's first line of defense towards foreign pathogens.

 

 

For more information please contact:

 

Media Contact

Faron Pharmaceuticals

Eric Van Zanten

Head of Communications

eric.vanzanten@faron.com (mailto:Eric.vanzanten@faron.com)

Investor.relations@faron.com

+1 (610) 529-6219

 

Investor Contact

Stern Investor Relations

Julie Seidel

julie.seidel@sternir.com (mailto:Julie.seidel@sternir.com)

Phone: +1 (212) 362-1200

 

Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, Nomad

Sandy Jamieson, Jo Turner, Mark Rogers

Phone: +44 (0) 207 213 0880

 

Peel Hunt LLP, Broker

Christopher Golden, James Steel

Phone: +44 (0) 20 7418 8900

 

Sisu Partners Oy, Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North

Juha Karttunen

Phone: +358 (0)40 555 4727

Jukka Järvelä

Phone: +358 (0)50 553 8990

 

Consilium Strategic Communications

Mary-Jane Elliott, David Daley, Lindsey Neville

Phone: +44 (0)20 3709 5700

E-mail: faron@consilium-comms.com

 

 

About Bexmarilimab

Bexmarilimab is Faron's wholly-owned, investigative precision immunotherapy
with the potential to provide permanent immune stimulation for
difficult-to-treat cancers through targeting myeloid cell function. A novel
anti-Clever-1 humanised antibody, bexmarilimab targets Clever-1 positive
(Common Lymphatic Endothelial and Vascular Endothelial Receptor 1) tumour
associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tumour microenvironment, converting these
highly immunosuppressive M2 macrophages to immune stimulating M1 macrophages.
In mouse models, bexmarilimab has successfully blocked or silenced Clever-1,
activating antigen presentation and promoting interferon gamma secretion by
leukocytes. Additional pre-clinical studies have proven that Clever-1, encoded
by the Stabilin-1 or STAB-1 gene, is a major source of T cell exhaustion and
involved in cancer growth and spread. Observations from clinical studies to
date indicate that Clever-1 has the capacity to control T cell activation
directly, suggesting that the inactivation of Clever-1 as an immune
suppressive molecule could be more broadly applicable and more important than
previously thought. As an immuno-oncology therapy, bexmarilimab has potential
as a single-agent therapy or in combination with other standard treatments
including immune checkpoint molecules. Beyond immuno-oncology, it offers
potential in infectious diseases, vaccine development and more.

 

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 caused by dysfunction of our immune system. The Company currently
has a pipeline based on the receptors involved in regulation of immune
response in oncology, organ damage and bone marrow regeneration. Bexmarilimab,
a novel anti-Clever-1 humanized antibody, is its investigative precision
immunotherapy with the potential to provide permanent immune stimulation for
difficult-to-treat cancers through targeting myeloid function. Currently in
Phase I/II clinical development as a potential therapy for patients with
untreatable solid tumors, bexmarilimab has potential as a single-agent therapy
or in combination with other standard treatments including immune checkpoint
molecules. Traumakine is an investigational intravenous (IV) interferon
beta-1a therapy for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome
(ARDS) and other ischemic or hyperinflammatory conditions. Traumakine is
currently being evaluated in global trials as a potential treatment for
hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and with the 59th Medical Wing of the US
Air Force and the US Department of Defense for the prevention of multiple
organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) after ischemia-reperfusion injury caused by
a major trauma.  Faron is based in Turku, Finland. Further information is
available at www.faron.com (http://www.faron.com) .

 

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.

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