Acceptance of two studies involving bexmarilimab, one of them as an oral presentation, at the 19th International Congress of Immunology (IUIS) 2025

The oral presentation and poster showcase bexmarilimab’s dual attack on cancer with new mechanistic data from clinical studies

TURKU, FINLAND – Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (AIM: FARN, First North: FARON), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on tackling cancers through novel immunological pathways, today announced the acceptance of two studies involving its lead candidate, bexmarilimab, for presentation at the 19th IUIS International Congress of Immunology in Vienna, Austria, from August 17-22, 2025.

The oral presentation will feature new translational data from the Phase 1/2 BEXMAB clinical study in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The second study, accepted as a poster, details the identification of secreted Clever-1 (sClever-1) as a key driver of immune suppression and immunotherapy resistance. Together, these presentations underscore the growing body of evidence supporting bexmarilimab’s mechanism of action.

The oral presentation, entitled ‘Dual Mechanisms of Clever-1 Inhibition with Bexmarilimab Plus Azacitidine in Myelodysplastic Syndrome: Translational Insights from the Phase 1/2 BEXMAB Study,’ will be presented by Faron’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Maija Hollmén. The BEXMAB study is a Phase I/II trial investigating bexmarilimab with standard of care in patients with aggressive hematological malignancies. The study provides insights into how directly targeting the Clever-1 receptor, which is highly expressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and MDS, ignite an immune response, and make current treatments more effective.

Dr. Maija Hollmén, senior author of both studies, MediCity Research Laboratory and InFLAMES Flagship, University of Turku, Turku, Finland, said, “The BEXMAB data provides translational insights into bexmarilimab’s dual impact in a clinical setting, while our sClever-1 findings elucidate a fundamental mechanism of systemic immune suppression. Showing that bexmarilimab can block sClever-1 release suggests our drug candidate fights cancer on two fronts: reprogramming macrophages locally and preventing this inhibitory molecule’s systemic effects. We look forward to sharing these insights with the global scientific community.”

The research accepted for a poster presentation and also published in the peer-reviewed journal Theranostics, ‘Secreted Clever-1 modulates T cell responses and impacts cancer immunotherapy efficacy,’ reveals that a soluble form of Clever-1 is significantly enriched in the blood of cancer patients. This circulating sClever-1 directly binds to and neutralizes activated T cells, impairing their ability to fight cancer. High levels of sClever-1 are associated with resistance to anti-PD-1 therapies. Importantly, the research demonstrates that bexmarilimab treatment can inhibit the release of sClever-1, highlighting a key and previously undescribed therapeutic mechanism.

“Having two distinct and complementary datasets accepted at this prestigious congress is very encouraging and a testament to the depth of our research,” said Dr. Petri Bono, Chief Medical Officer of Faron. “High-risk MDS is associated with poor outcomes and therapy resistance. The BEXMAB study data demonstrates a dual mechanism of action in MDS, while sClever-1 research redraws a part of the cancer immunology map. These data provide a strong scientific rationale for why targeting Clever-1 is the right approach.”

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