Date: 2014-04-23
Type of information: Licensing agreement
Compound: IMA950
Company: immatics biotechnologies (Germany) Cancer Research UK (UK) Cancer Research Technology (UK)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: licensing
Action mechanism: IMA950 is a vaccine that uses 11 different HLA restricted tumour-associated peptides (TUMAPs). The TUMAPs, identified by immatics using its proprietary drug discovery platform XPRESIDENT®, are known to be over-expressed on the surface of glioblastoma tumours. They trigger the patient’s immune system to recognise and kill tumour cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Disease: glioblastoma
Details: * On April 23, 2014, immatics biotechnologies, Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology have entered a licence agreement in which immatics will continue to develop its cancer vaccine IMA950 for glioblastoma. The decision is based on positive results from a phase 1 trial that was conducted under the Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) joint initiative of Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office (DDO) and Cancer Research Technology (CRT) as part of the charity’s role in assessing new treatments of potential benefit to cancer patients. The IMA950 trial met the agreed primary endpoints of safety and immunogenicity in a phase 1 multicentre trial which was undertaken at seven Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres across the UK, led by the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow. 45 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma were treated with IMA950 in addition to standard of care, surgery and concomitant or adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide. Results showed that 90 per cent of patients responded to the vaccine, in comparison to the pre-defined goal of 60 per cent, exceeding expectations. IMA950 is the first therapeutic vaccine developed under the CDP scheme. Under the scheme, companies retain rights to their drugs while allowing Cancer Research UK’s DDO to undertake early clinical development work to assess the treatment’s benefit to cancer patients. Nine projects have been taken on under the CDP initiative with IMA950 being the first to complete a clinical trial and be taken forward by the company. immatics has paid CRT an undisclosed licensing fee for exclusive rights to the phase 1 clinical trial data and, provided IMA950 is successfully developed and commercialised, will pay further development milestones and downstream royalties.
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