Finland-based biopharmaceutical company Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd (AIM:FARN) (First North:FARON) announced on Monday that it has finalised agreements to initiate the Phase I/II BLAZE trial through a strategic collaboration with The Institute of Cancer Research, London, in partnership with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

The investigator-initiated trial will be conducted in the UK with a focus on overcoming acquired resistance to checkpoint inhibitors in cancer patients.

The BLAZE trial will evaluate Faron's lead asset, bexmarilimab, in combination with the anti-PD-1 antibody zimberelimab, provided by biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences Inc (Nasdaq:GILD), in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma who have progressed after prior anti-PD-1 therapy. The study will assess a treatment approach that primes patients with bexmarilimab before administering the combination therapy, aiming to resensitise tumours to anti-PD-1 treatment.

This collaboration targets a significant unmet medical need, as most advanced melanoma and lung cancer patients eventually develop resistance to first-line immunotherapy, with limited subsequent treatment options.