18th Aug 2020 11:55
(Alliance News) -Â Biopharmaceutical firm Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy on Tuesday said it has received a EUR2.5 million loan guarantee from Finnvera.
The loan, which has a period of seven years with repayment only commencing after two, will be provided by Danske Bank A/S Finland branch. The funds will be used in the future commercial scale production of Traumakine, Faron's investigational intravenous interferon beta-1a.
Finnvera is a specialised financing company owned by the state of Finland.
Faron on Tuesday also said AGC Biologics, a biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing organisation, has been selected as the new manufacturing house for the commercial scale production of the company's IV IFN beta-1a.
Meanwhile, Traumakine continues to be investigated as a potential Covid-19 treatment in global trials.
In July, World Health Organisation decided to remove the hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir treatment arms from the trial due to insufficient evidence of benefit. This leaves IFN beta-1a and remdesivir as the only two drugs remaining in the study, subject to the WHO announcing further new compounds for inclusion.
Faron Chief Executive Markku Jalkanen said: "We are very pleased to have secured additional resources that will enable us to progress Traumakine manufacturing to support its potential future commercial use. The science behind interferon beta and its potential to prevent multi-organ failure in severe Covid-19 patients is compelling."
Shares in Faron were up 3.4% at 470.60 pence in London on Tuesday.
By Lucy Heming;Â [email protected]
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