Faron Pharmaceuticals has announced positive updated data from its Phase 1/2 BEXMAB study, which is investigating bexmarilimab in combination with standard of care (SoC) in relapsed/refractory (r/r) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients who have failed hypomethylating agents (HMAs). The data shows a 50% remission rate in the doublet dose cohorts, with 11 out of 22 patients achieving remission. Eight of these patients are complete responders or complete responders with incomplete blood recovery. The highest overall response rate (ORR) of 80% was observed in the prior HMA-failure MDS group, with 4 out of 5 patients responding positively to treatment. The drug continues to be well-tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicity observed. Faron plans to initiate the Phase 2 part of the BEXMAB study in Q4 2023, focusing on HMA-failed MDS and r/r AML patients. The Phase 2 study will start with dose optimization and is expected to enroll 28-32 patients randomized between two selected doses. Faron also plans to increase the number of US clinical sites from two to five to accelerate study recruitment.