Date: 2017-09-18
Type of information: Development agreement
Compound: ImmTAV (Immune mobilising monoclonal TCRs Against Virus) and ImmTAB (Immune mobilising monoclonal TCRs Against Bacteria) therapeutics
Company: Immunocore (UK) Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (USA)
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
Type agreement: development
Action mechanism:
- bispecific protein. ImmTAV® and ImmTAB™ molecules are novel small protein molecules that are designed to specifically recognise and kill virally or bacterially infected cells.
Disease: HIV infection, tuberculosis
Details:
- • On September 18, 2017, Immunocore announced an investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the development of Immunocore’s ImmTAV (Immune mobilising monoclonal TCRs Against Virus) and ImmTAB (Immune mobilising monoclonal TCRs Against Bacteria) therapeutics for infectious diseases that pose a global health challenge. The collaboration will discover and develop ImmTAV and ImmTAB molecules for the treatment of tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus where the TCR-based therapeutics have the potential to reduce treatment timelines and improve patient outcomes. Immunocore will also continue expanding its platform technology to enable therapeutics with broad coverage of the affected disease population.
This new collaboration is part of a larger initiative within Immunocore to apply its soluble TCR-based therapeutics to areas outside of oncology, including infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases. In 2016, Immunocore published preclinical data in Molecular Therapy that demonstrated the potential of Immunocore’s ImmTAV molecules to redirect the immune system to kill HIV-infected cells from patients treated with antiretroviral therapy, thus facilitating clearance of reactivated latently infected HIV reservoir cells.
Financial terms:
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest up to $40 million in Immunocore. This investment was made as part of its programme-related investments strategy, which aims to stimulate private sector-driven innovation, encourage market-driven efficiencies and attract external capital to priority global health and development initiatives that improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.
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