Dr. Mark Chao

CIRM-funded treatment for cancer granted FDA breakthrough therapy designation

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Mark Chao, M.D., Ph.D., cofounder of Forty Seven, Inc. and current VP of oncology clinical research at Gilead Sciences

An antibody therapeutic, magrolimab, being tested for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a group of cancers in which the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells , was granted breakthrough therapy designation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Breakthrough therapy designations from the FDA are intended to help expedite the development of new treatments. They require preliminary clinical evidence that demonstrates that the treatment may have substantial improvement in comparison to therapy options currently available. CIRM funded a Phase 1b trial in MDS and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), another type of blood cancer, that provided the data on which the breakthrough therapy designation is based.

Cancer cells express a signal known as CD47, which sends a “don’t eat me” message to macrophages, white blood cells that are part of the immune system designed to “eat” and destroy unhealthy cells. Magrolimab works by blocking the signal, enabling the body’s own immune system to detect and destroy the cancer cells.

Magrolimab was initially developed by a team led by Irv Weissman, M.D. at Stanford University with the support of CIRM awards. This led to the formation of Forty Seven, Inc., which was subsequently acquired by Gilead Sciences in April 2020 for $4.9 billion (learn more about other highlighted partnership events on CIRM’s Industry Alliance Program website by clicking here).

In CIRM’s 2019-2020 18-Month Report, Mark Chao, M.D., Ph.D.,  who co-founded Forty Seven, Inc. and currently serves as the VP of oncology clinical research at Gilead Sciences, credits CIRM with helping progress this treatment.

“CIRM’s support has been instrumental to our ability to rapidly progress Forty Seven’s CD47 antibody targeting approach.”

Magrolimab is currently being studied as a combination therapy with azacitidine, a chemotherapy drug, in a Phase 3 clinical trial in previously untreated higher risk MDS. This is one of the last steps before seeking FDA approval for widespread commercial use.

Merdad Parsey, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer at Gilead Sciences

In a press release, Merdad Parsey, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer at Gilead Sciences discusses the significance of the designation from the FDA and the importance of the treatment.

“The Breakthrough Therapy designation recognizes the potential for magrolimab to help address a significant unmet medical need for people with MDS and underscores the transformative potential of Gilead’s immuno-oncology therapies in development.”

Perseverance: from theory to therapy. Our story over the last year – and a half

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Some of the stars of our Annual Report

It’s been a long time coming. Eighteen months to be precise. Which is a peculiarly long time for an Annual Report. The world is certainly a very different place today than when we started, and yet our core mission hasn’t changed at all, except to spring into action to make our own contribution to fighting the coronavirus.

This latest CIRM Annual Reportcovers 2019 through June 30, 2020. Why? Well, as you probably know we are running out of money and could be funding our last new awards by the end of this year. So, we wanted to produce as complete a picture of our achievements as we could – keeping in mind that we might not be around to produce a report next year.

Dr. Catriona Jamieson, UC San Diego physician and researcher

It’s a pretty jam-packed report. It covers everything from the 14 new clinical trials we have funded this year, including three specifically focused on COVID-19. It looks at the extraordinary researchers that we fund and the progress they have made, and the billions of additional dollars our funding has helped leverage for California. But at the heart of it, and at the heart of everything we do, are the patients. They’re the reason we are here. They are the reason we do what we do.

Byron Jenkins, former Naval fighter pilot who battled back from his own fight with multiple myeloma

There are stories of people like Byron Jenkins who almost died from multiple myeloma but is now back leading a full, active life with his family thanks to a CIRM-funded therapy with Poseida. There is Jordan Janz, a young man who once depended on taking 56 pills a day to keep his rare disease, cystinosis, under control but is now hoping a stem cell therapy developed by Dr. Stephanie Cherqui and her team at UC San Diego will make that something of the past.

Jordan Janz and Dr. Stephanie Cherqui

These individuals are remarkable on so many levels, not the least because they were willing to be among the first people ever to try these therapies. They are pioneers in every sense of the word.

Sneha Santosh, former CIRM Bridges student and now a researcher with Novo Nordisk

There is a lot of information in the report, charting the work we have done over the last 18 months. But it’s also a celebration of everyone who made it possible, and our way of saying thank you to the people of California who gave us this incredible honor and opportunity to do this work.

We hope you enjoy it.