Pipeline of CD47 and SIRP-alpha Targeted Immunotherapy

This competitive intelligence report about CD47 and SIRP-alpha Targeted Immunotherapy provides an up-to-date competitor evaluation in the field of emerging therapy candidates in research and development targeting CD47 or SIRPα. This report will be prepared on demand within one working day upon order placement. The report lists active CD47 and SIRPα targeted R&D programs by R&D phase in a tabular format and describes in brief the profile of CD47 and SIRPα inhibitors by drug modality (mainly antibodies, fusion proteins, protein biologics, RNA/mRNA or small molecules). The report will be provided in pdf format and sent by e-mail to the customer.

As an example of this category of on demand reports, please see our free sample report of “Pipeline of 5T4-Targeted Immunotherapies”.

The phagocytic activity of macrophages is regulated by both activating (“eat me”) and inhibitory (“don’t eat me”) signals. CD47 serves as a critical “don’t eat me” signal inhibiting phagocytosis by binding to signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) on the surface of macrophages. The CD47-SIRPα interaction represents an important mechanism by which malignant cells evade macrophage-mediated destruction. CD47 is overexpressed in numerous hematological cancers and solid tumors, and high CD47 expression correlates with more aggressive disease and poorer clinical outcomes. Preclinical studies have shown that interrupting the CD47-SIRPα signaling pathway promotes anti-tumor activity against human cancers, both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, blocking CD47 has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy with early clinical data demonstrating benefit to cancer patients.

Dual function molecules are designed to 1) bind CD47 and neutralize its suppressive signal, and 2) deliver a pro-phagocytic (“eat me”) signal through the Fc region, which binds to activating Fc receptors on the surface of macrophages. It is believed that the combination of these two events – blockade of the negative CD47 “don’t eat me” signal and delivery of a positive Fc “eat me” signal – is a particularly effective way to enable macrophages to destroy tumor cells. Thus, there are differences to be expected whether the Fc is of the IgG1 or IgG4 isotype or even inert (inactivated Fc).

However, development of CD47 antibody as a cancer therapy is hampered by its hematologic side effects, such as severe anemia, caused by natural binding of CD47 antibody to red blood cells. A differentiation factor among competitor molecules is the virtue of not binding or reduced binding to CD47 on human red blood cells. This lowers the risk of serious anemia in patients, avoids the removal of the drug from the circulation by red blood cells (“antigen sink effect”) and minimizes interference with laboratory blood typing tests.

The development pipeline is full of directly acting specific, bispecific or multispecific CD47 and SIRPα inhibitors. Drug modalities include monoclonal antibodies, fusion proteins, protein biologics, RNA/mRNA or small molecules. More than 20 distinct molecules targeting the CD47-SIRPα pathway are in clinical development.