• Sorafenib is an FDA-approved drug for treating liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC) but it’s survival benefit was found to be modest due to drug resistance. It was then found that tumor-initiating cells (T-IC) were the reason behind the resistance, where CD47 is the most significant.
• According to FiercePharma.com, the 2012 sales of Sorafenib was US$1.018B, and is projected to reach US$1.463B in 2018.
• Using monoclonal antibody CD47 against cancer has been established, but not the idea of combining it or CD47 inhibitors with sorafenib.

• In vitro test on HCC cell lines showed that combination treatment of sorafenib and anti-CD47 antibody (anti-CD47 Ab) results in a greater sensitivity to sorafenib when compared to treatment using sorafenib or anti-CD47 Ab alone.
• In vivo test on mice showed that combination treatment of anti-CD47 Ab and sorafenib results in a smaller tumor volume when compared with sole treatment of anti-CD47 Ab or sorafenib. This combination use exerted a synergistic effect, thus maximized suppression of tumors.
• When co-treated with anti-CD47 Ab and sorafenib, the level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a liver T-IC marker, had the greatest reduction.
• Figure 1: Combined effect of anti-CD47 Ab and sorafenib induced maximal suppression of tumors when compared to the control group.
• Figure 2: Co-treatment of anti-CD47 Ab and sorafenib resulted in the least level of AFP.
• Journal publication: Hepatology. 2015 Aug;62(2):534-45. doi: 10.1002/hep.27859.

• Therapeutic Regimen for HCC
• Combination Treatment for HCC
• Methods increasing sensitivity of liver cancer cells to sorafenib

Patents

• Patent application: US Patent application No.14/856,137;

IP Status

• Patent application submitted