Immatics Collaboration with GSK to Develop Novel Adoptive Cell Therapies
Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, known for its T-cell redirecting cancer immunotherapies, entered into a partnership with GSK to develop new adoptive cell therapies that target multiple cancers. Adoptive cell therapy uses natural or genetically engineered T cells to fight cancers. ACTolog®, ACTengine®, and ACTallo® are the three proprietary approaches developed by Immatics to produce adoptive cell therapies.
The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company will collaborate with GSK to develop T-cell Receptor therapeutics against solid tumors. They will first develop autologous T-cell therapies with a possibility to include allogeneic cell therapies using Immatics’ ACTallo® approach.
ACTallo® is an approach to identify cancer cell targets as identified by Immatics’ XPRESIDENT® platform by genetically modifying allogenic gd donor T cells. This allows the development of immunotherapies for the immediate treatment of the cancer patient. XPRESIDENT® is the most accurate, highest-throughput, and sensitive technology that can identify targets in any type of cancer.
The TCRs identified by Immatics’ XCEPTOR® TCR discovery platform will be used and guided against two targets identified and validated by the Immatics XPRESIDENT® platform. XCEPTOR™ allows the efficient and rapid discovery of a large number of highly specific T-cell receptors with a high affinity to be used in Adoptive Cell Therapies.
Immatics will receive an initial payment of 45 Million € (~$50 million) for two programs under the partnership agreement and is eligible to get $550M for each product as additional royalty payments during the development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
GSK holds the right to select additional target programs, and for each additional program, Immatics has the potential to option royalty payments and milestones.
In the Immatics GSK collaboration, the responsibility to develop and validate TCR therapeutics lies with Immatics. Further worldwide development, manufacture, and commercialization will be the sole responsibility of GSK. But on GSK’s request, Immatics is supposed to co-develop one or more TCR Therapeutics and conduct the first human trials.
Author : Namitha Thampi
