Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) is a nano-cap biotech with a massive pipeline, but can a company with a market capitalization of only $15.82 million truly disrupt multi-billion-dollar markets? The firm reported a net loss of $4.87 million in the first half of 2025, but that financial burn is defintely fueling two key drug candidates, Piclidenoson and Namodenoson. Specifically, Piclidenoson is now targeting the $6 billion vascular dementia market, plus Namodenoson has advanced with FDA compassionate use approval for pancreatic cancer, so you need to understand the full story behind this risk/reward profile.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) History

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. is a clinical-stage Israeli biopharmaceutical company that evolved from an academic research focus on a unique cell-surface receptor into a publicly traded entity with a pipeline of small-molecule drugs. The company's trajectory is a classic biotech story: years of heavy research and development (R&D) spending, punctuated by critical clinical trial milestones and capital raises to sustain the work. You need to understand this history to properly frame the risk against the multi-billion-dollar market opportunities they are chasing.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

The company was incorporated in 1994.

Original location

Can-Fite was founded in Israel, and is currently headquartered in Ramat Gan/Petach Tikva, Israel.

Founding team members

The company was founded by Dr. Pnina Fishman, Ph.D., who currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Chairperson, and Ilan Cohn.

Initial capital/funding

While the initial capital is not specifically disclosed, the company has raised a total of $175 million in funding to date as of May 2025, which has been crucial for advancing its lead drug candidates into pivotal Phase III studies. This shows a long-term, significant reliance on external financing to fuel R&D.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The company's evolution is defined by a few strategic, transformative decisions that moved it from a research idea to a clinical-stage biopharma with a deep pipeline. The core of this is the focus on the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR) as a highly selective therapeutic target, which is overexpressed in pathological cells like cancer and inflammatory cells.

The most significant moments that shaped Can-Fite's current form are:

• Platform Validation: Committing to the A3AR platform, which allowed the development of two lead candidates, Namodenoson and Piclidenoson, for multiple indications, including oncology and inflammatory diseases. This is a defintely capital-intensive strategy.
• Advancing to Pivotal Trials: Securing the funding and regulatory approvals to push both Piclidenoson (for psoriasis) and Namodenoson (for advanced liver cancer) into pivotal Phase III clinical trials. This is the most expensive and highest-risk phase, but success here means a clear path to market.
• Strategic Financial Moves in 2025: Completing a $5 million public offering in July 2025, which helped bolster the cash and equivalents position of $6.45 million reported as of June 30, 2025. This continuous capital infusion is critical to offset the H1 2025 net loss of $4.87 million.
• Pipeline Expansion into CNS: The UCLA study in July 2025 demonstrating Piclidenoson's potential for vascular dementia treatment is a major transformative moment, opening up a new, large market estimated at $6 billion. This diversifies the risk away from just oncology and psoriasis.

For a deeper dive into the company's current financial standing and the implications of these R&D costs, you should read Breaking Down Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) Ownership Structure

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. is a publicly traded, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, listed on the NYSE American under the ticker CANF and also on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). Its ownership is heavily dominated by public and retail shareholders, which is a common structure for smaller-cap biotech firms that rely on public offerings for capital.

Given Company's Current Status

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. is an advanced clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Israel. It is a public entity, which means its stock is freely traded, but its recent financial performance shows the reliance on capital markets. For the first half of the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported revenue of only $0.20 million and a net loss of $4.87 million, underscoring its development-stage nature. [cite: 1, 3 in previous steps] The company's board recently approved a reverse stock split proposal in November 2025 to address capital structure issues, a move that defintely impacts shareholder psychology and the stock's liquidity. [cite: 1 in previous steps, 9 in previous steps]

Given Company's Ownership Breakdown

You need to know who controls the stock, because that tells you who is driving the strategic decisions. For Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd., the float-the shares available to the public-is substantial, giving retail investors a significant collective voice, but also contributing to high price volatility. Here's the breakdown of the major shareholder categories based on the most recent data available to November 2025.

The total institutional holding of 12.61% is low for a mature company, but typical for a micro-cap biotech. This means the stock price is often more susceptible to retail investor sentiment and news flow than to large institutional block trades. If you want to dive deeper into the financial mechanics of this, check out Breaking Down Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Given Company's Leadership

The leadership team is small and highly experienced in the biopharma space, with an average management tenure of around 17 years. [cite: 7 in previous steps] That kind of longevity is a double-edged sword: it means deep institutional knowledge, but sometimes less appetite for radical change. The key players steering the company's clinical development and financial strategy as of November 2025 are:

• Dr. Pnina Fishman Ph.D.: Founder, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), and Executive Chairperson. She is the scientific heart of the company, with her work forming the foundation of Can-Fite's drug candidates.
• Motti Farbstein: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Chief Operating Officer (COO). He holds a triple role, which concentrates significant operational and financial control in one person. His total compensation in the last reported fiscal year was $558,000. [cite: 5 in previous steps, 7 in previous steps, 15 in previous steps]
• Dr. Sari Fishman Ph.D.: Vice President of Business Development. She focuses on securing licensing and collaboration agreements, which are critical for funding and commercializing their drug pipeline. [cite: 15 in previous steps]

The leadership is definitely focused on advancing the clinical pipeline, especially Namodenoson for pancreatic cancer and Piclidenoson for psoriasis, but the small team size and concentrated power mean you need to watch their strategic capital decisions closely.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) Mission and Values

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.'s core mission is centered on developing a pipeline of proprietary, orally bioavailable small molecule drugs to address major, unmet medical needs in cancer and inflammatory diseases, aiming for both significant patient impact and commercial success.

You're looking at a company whose purpose is defintely rooted in the science of their platform technology, the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR), which is highly expressed in pathological cells but not in normal ones. That's the entire business model in one sentence.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.'s Core Purpose

The company's cultural DNA is built around translating advanced clinical-stage research into practical, safe, and effective oral therapies. This focus is not just academic; it's tied to massive global markets, like the estimated $6 billion global market for Vascular Dementia as of 2025, a condition Piclidenoson is being explored for.

Official Mission Statement

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. operates with a clear, functional mission: to be an advanced clinical stage drug development company that uses its platform technology to create oral drugs for multi-billion-dollar markets in oncology and inflammatory diseases.

• Develop proprietary small molecule drugs, such as Piclidenoson and Namodenoson, targeting the A3AR.
• Prioritize an excellent safety profile, proven through experience in close to 2,000 patients in clinical studies to date.
• Bring forward drug candidates like Namodenoson, which has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. FDA for advanced liver cancer and pancreatic cancer, ensuring focus on critical, rare diseases.

Here's the quick math: the company's H1 2025 revenues were only $0.20 million, a 36.07% decrease from 2024, showing the mission is still heavily focused on R&D and clinical milestones, not commercial sales yet. If you want to dive deeper into the investment thesis behind this model, check out Exploring Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Vision Statement

The company's vision is to become a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company by successfully achieving regulatory approval and commercialization of its lead drug candidates. This is a long-term aspiration, still measured by clinical progress.

• Secure pivotal Phase III trial completion for Piclidenoson in psoriasis.
• Advance Namodenoson through its pivotal Phase III trial for advanced liver cancer and its Phase IIb study for Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatohepatitis (MASH).
• Leverage the platform's ability to create oral, twice-daily small molecule drugs, offering a convenient alternative to injectables.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. Slogan/Tagline

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. uses a concise, powerful tagline that summarizes its drug development approach and market ambition.

• Small Molecules for Big Clinical Needs™.

This slogan directly communicates the company's strategy: using small, orally administered drug compounds to tackle large, complex diseases that represent significant, unmet medical needs. It's a great distillation of their scientific and commercial focus.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) How It Works

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. operates by developing proprietary, orally bioavailable small molecule drugs that selectively target the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR), which is highly expressed in diseased cells, including cancer and inflammatory cells, but not in healthy ones. This platform technology allows the company to advance a pipeline of therapeutics-primarily Piclidenoson and Namodenoson-through late-stage clinical trials to address multi-billion-dollar markets in oncology and inflammatory diseases.

Given Company's Product/Service Portfolio

Given Company's Operational Framework

The company's operations are laser-focused on advancing its lead drug candidates through the final, most expensive stages of clinical development, which is typical for an advanced clinical-stage biotech. The core process is built on a capital-intensive Research and Development (R&D) engine, evidenced by the $3.03 million in R&D expenses in the first half of 2025 alone. That's where the real value is created.

The operational framework is a lean, outsourced clinical model:

• Pre-Clinical/Discovery: Uses the proprietary A3AR platform to identify and optimize new small-molecule drug candidates.
• Clinical Trials: Manages pivotal Phase III and Phase II trials for Piclidenoson and Namodenoson globally, working with contract research organizations (CROs) and leading medical centers.
• Regulatory Strategy: Secures critical designations like Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for Namodenoson in pancreatic cancer, which provides a potential seven years of market exclusivity after approval.
• Partnership & Licensing: Monetizes the pipeline early through out-licensing deals in selected territories. The company has already secured seven commercialization agreements with strategic partners for future marketing.

This model minimizes internal infrastructure costs but requires constant financing, which is why the company completed a public offering in July 2025 for gross proceeds of $5 million. You need to keep a close eye on their cash burn; their cash and short-term deposits were $6.45 million as of June 30, 2025.

Given Company's Strategic Advantages

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.'s market success hinges on a few clear, high-impact advantages, mostly tied to its unique drug mechanism.

• Target Specificity and Safety Profile: The drugs are highly selective A3AR agonists, which means they primarily bind to the A3AR that is overexpressed in diseased cells. This differential binding is the key reason for the excellent safety profile observed in close to 2,000 patients to date, a huge advantage over many systemic treatments.
• Orally Bioavailable Small Molecules: Both lead candidates are oral drugs, not injectables, which is a massive convenience factor for patients and a significant differentiator in the competitive landscape for chronic diseases like psoriasis and liver cancer.
• Regulatory and Market Exclusivity: Namodenoson holds Orphan Drug and Fast Track designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for advanced liver cancer (HCC), which can shorten the regulatory review process and provide a competitive edge upon approval.
• Non-Dilutive Revenue Potential: The company has monetized its portfolio through corporate partnerships, receiving over $20 million to date, with potential milestone payments and royalties that could total up to an additional $130 million. This helps fund the costly Phase III trials.

To understand the full scope of their long-term strategy, you should review their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF).

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) How It Makes Money

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. is an advanced clinical-stage biotechnology company, so it does not generate substantial revenue from product sales; instead, it primarily makes money through non-dilutive sources like licensing agreements, milestone payments from corporate partners, and government grants that fund its drug development pipeline.

In the first half of the 2025 fiscal year (H1 2025), the company's total revenue was only $0.20 million, reflecting its pre-commercial stage, where the focus is on advancing its drug candidates like Piclidenoson and Namodenoson through clinical trials.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.'s Revenue Breakdown

The company's revenue is highly concentrated and volatile, as is typical for a biotech focused on research and development (R&D). The H1 2025 financials show a sharp decline in overall revenue, which is a key risk for investors to consider. Here's the quick math on the breakdown of the $0.20 million in H1 2025 revenue:

Business Economics

Can-Fite BioPharma's economic engine is built on its proprietary platform technology that targets the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR), a mechanism of action (MOA) for treating inflammatory diseases and cancer. The core strategy is developing drug candidates to an advanced clinical stage and then out-licensing them to larger pharmaceutical partners for commercialization, which triggers milestone payments and future royalties.

• Pricing Strategy: The company currently has no commercial products, so its revenue is not driven by traditional drug pricing. Its 'price' is the value of its intellectual property (IP) and clinical data, which dictates the size of upfront payments and regulatory milestone payments in its licensing deals.
• Cost Structure: The business model is inherently high-risk, high-reward, with the vast majority of capital expenditure going into R&D. In H1 2025, R&D expenses were $3.03 million, a 5.16% increase year-over-year, showing a continued push to complete trials. This is the cost of staying in business.
• Non-Dilutive Capital: The company has secured significant potential non-dilutive income, including up to $130 million in potential future milestones from existing out-licensing deals, which is a key component of its long-term financial health.

The economic reality is that a single successful Phase 3 trial for a drug like Piclidenoson could transform the entire financial outlook overnight.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.'s Financial Performance

As of the H1 2025 financial results, the company's performance reflects the capital-intensive nature of late-stage drug development, showing a significant net loss and a need for continued funding. To be fair, this is a common profile for a biotech at this stage.

• Net Loss: The net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2025, widened to $4.87 million, compared to $3.95 million in the same period in 2024, primarily due to increased operating expenses.
• Cash Position: Cash and cash equivalents stood at $6.45 million as of June 30, 2025, a decrease from the end of 2024. However, a subsequent $5 million public offering in July 2025 was completed to bolster this position.
• Expense Growth: General and administrative (G&A) expenses saw a substantial jump, rising 35.47% to $2.07 million in H1 2025, due partly to a one-time project related to investor relations. This kind of spending needs tight control.
• Revenue Decline: Total revenue for H1 2025 of $0.20 million was a 36.07% decrease from the prior year period, highlighting the volatile nature of clinical-stage revenue streams.

The high R&D spend and increasing G&A costs, combined with low, decreasing revenue, means the company is defintely burning cash, making the success of the clinical pipeline and the timing of milestone payments absolutely crucial. You can dive deeper into the sustainability of their funding in Breaking Down Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) Market Position & Future Outlook

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) is a high-risk, high-reward clinical-stage biotechnology company whose future trajectory hinges entirely on its late-stage drug pipeline, not current sales. With trailing twelve-month revenue of only about $560K as of June 30, 2025, its market position is essentially non-existent in the multi-billion dollar therapeutic markets it targets, but a single positive Phase III readout could change everything.

The company's focus is on small-molecule drugs, Piclidenoson and Namodenoson, which target the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR), a mechanism that has shown an excellent safety profile in nearly 2,000 patients to date. That safety profile is a key advantage over many current biologic treatments, defintely.

Competitive Landscape

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) competes against pharmaceutical giants with established commercial products. Its market share is currently 0%, but its competitive advantage lies in its oral, non-biologic mechanism of action (A3AR agonist) for diseases dominated by expensive, injectable biologics.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company is positioned to capture value in three multi-billion dollar markets: psoriasis, liver cancer, and MASH (Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatohepatitis, formerly NASH), but it remains heavily dependent on capital raises to fund its trials.

Industry Position

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. is a micro-cap player in the global biotechnology sector, with a market capitalization around $14.3 million as of late 2025. That's a tiny fraction of the market leaders.

The company's primary asset is its proprietary platform targeting the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR), which is overexpressed in inflammatory and cancer cells. This mechanism offers a targeted, oral approach that differentiates it from the injectable biologic therapies that currently dominate the psoriasis market.

• Focus on oral small molecules gives it a competitive edge in patient convenience over many injectable biologics.
• Analyst consensus is a 'Moderate Buy' with an average price target of up to $10.50, a massive potential upside of over 1,700% from the current price, but this is a purely binary bet on clinical success.
• The company's position is highly volatile, reflected by its stock's bearish technical indicators and low overall stock score, driven by financial weakness.

The next 12-18 months will be critical; the market is waiting for data from the Phase III Piclidenoson and Namodenoson trials. Until then, it's a development story, not a commercial one. For a deeper dive into the capital structure supporting this pipeline, see Exploring Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (CANF) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?