The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an orphan drug designation (ODD) for ALX Oncology’s evorpacept, a next-generation CD47 blocker, to treat patients with gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction cancer. Gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction cancer (GC) extends from the distal esophagus to the gastric cardia. GC develops from the inner lining of the stomach, and is classified as rare, with fewer than 200,000 cases in the U.S. per year. Evorpacept works to block CD47, a transmembrane protein that is found to be overexpressed on cancer cells. Some of the current treatments for GC include chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and other targeted therapies. ALX Oncology is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company that develops CD47-blocking therapies to treat various cancers.
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