Great find. I interpret this as a completely new biological drug candidate, not a new indication for BEX. BEX inhibits the function of Clever-1, whereas this is an attempt to mimic a naturally occurring soluble part of Clever-1 in the body to dampen T-cell activity. The direction of the effect would, therefore, be practically the opposite of BEX in cancer treatment.
It is also worth noting that this is a patent application so far, not an issued patent. The priority date is from September 2024, and the PCT application was published in March 2026. Next, the application will proceed to national or regional phases, where patent offices will decide which claims are ultimately approved.
At this stage, the application does not yet indicate which disease this could actually become a treatment for. Drug development always requires a fairly precise package: a drug or drug combination + a specific disease + a specific patient group and treatment stage. A mere mention of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases is still very broad.
The evidence supporting a therapeutic effect in the application is mainly at the cellular level. H1 binds to T-cells and IGF2R and influences T-cell function. Patient data has been used quite extensively, but mainly to show that soluble Clever-1 is present in the blood of cancer patients more than in healthy individuals. There is no animal model data demonstrating therapeutic efficacy in the application.
Therefore, it is still a long way from knowing whether this works in any specific autoimmune disease, at what dosage, and with sufficient safety. There are already many drugs that dampen T-cell activity, so a new drug would need to offer a clear advantage compared to them.
This could very well develop into something, but based on the application, it is not yet possible to determine the market size or whether it would interest a large pharmaceutical company. Interest will likely only arise once a suitable indication is found and proper animal or clinical evidence is obtained for it. In my opinion, this is currently an early-stage drug candidate and one potential addition to Faron’s research portfolio, but not yet an actual drug program.