The flipside of CD47

While a growing tally of companies seeks to promote tumor phagocytosis by blocking the “don’t eat me” signal CD47 on cancer cells, OSE Immunotherapeutics S.A. (Euronext:OSE) is flipping that approach on its head by targeting signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPA), a CD47 receptor on phagocytic myeloid cells. The company thinks its anti-SIRPA mAb, dubbed Effi-DEM, goes beyond the CD47 approach because it not only helps phagocytes eat tumor cells, but also turns up their immune reactivity.

“It shares one part of its mechanism of action with anti-CD47 antibodies, because it enhances phagocytosis by macrophages,” said Bernard Vanhove, OSE’s COO. “But importantly and surprisingly, it acts to convert anti-inflammatory cells into non-suppressive cells which have an inflammatory profile.”...