Gilead Sciences has completed its previously announced $4.9-billion acquisition of Forty Seven Inc., a Menlo Park, California-based clinical-stage immuno-oncology company. Gilead had announced the acquisition last month (March 2020).

Forty Seven’s lead investigational lead product candidate is magrolimab, a monoclonal antibody in clinical development for the treatment of several cancers, including myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia, and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The investigational therapy targets CD47, a protein found of the surface of certain cells that acts as a so-called “don’t eat me” signal that allows cancer cells to avoid destruction, thereby permitting the patient’s own immune system to engulf and eradicate those cancer cells.

With the completion of the acquisition, Forty Seven Inc. has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Gilead Sciences.

Source: Gilead Sciences and Forty Seven Inc.