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Industry shows increased appetite for macrophage biology
Macrophage-focused immuno-oncology programmes were in the doldrums just a year ago, but are now back on the move in the wake of Gilead Sciences’ US$4.9 billion acquisition of Forty Seven.
As interest in immunotherapy has exploded in recent years, macrophages have emerged as an area of interest for drug discovery. Not only do these soldiers of the innate immune system remove damaged, old and dangerous cells, but cancers can also co-opt them for their own defences. Yet, despite early attention on understanding how to tune the interface between tumour cells and macrophages to develop therapeutics, the complex biology of the field keeps being rewritten.