Date: 2015-08-26
Type of information: Establishment of a new subsidiary in the US
Compound: Immatics US
Company: Immatics Biotechnologies (Germany)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: establishment of a new subsidiary in the US
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: * On August 26, 2015, Immatics Biotechnologies and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced the launch of Immatics US, Inc., a new company aiming at becoming a global leader in adoptive cellular therapies for the treatment of a range of tumor types. The new company will strive to develop three different adoptive cellular therapies approaches for the treatment of tumors with high un-met medical needs, the first of which will enter the clinic in 2016. Immatics US, Inc. will develop both autologous and allogenic adoptive cellular therapies approaches by capitalizing on MD Anderson’s world-leading clinical oncology and cell therapy expertise and Immatics’ unrivaled cancer target and T-cell receptor (TCR) discovery capabilities. Immatics US, Inc. will be based in Houston and has secured a first funding round totaling over $60m with more than $40m committed by the parent company Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH and $19.7 million by a recently awarded grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Immatics has been able to use its technology platform XPRESIDENT® for the discovery and further qualification of dozens of novel, proprietary and highly specific cancer targets that can be used as the basis for a range of cancer immunotherapy applications including adoptive cellular therapies. This capability will enable Immatics US, Inc. to develop TCR-based approaches and to have complementary utility with other approaches for addressing tumor targets. Immatics US, Inc. will focus on three adoptive cell therapy development approaches to treat tumors based on the significant expertise of leading academic collaborators: ACTolog™, ACTengine™ and ACTallo™. ACTolog™ involves selecting, enriching and the ex-vivo expansion of a patient’s endogenous T cells specifically recognizing Immatics’ XPRESIDENT® targets. The ACTolog approach is based on the work of Cassian Yee, M.D., Professor of Medical Melanoma Oncology at MD Anderson. ACTengine™ involves genetically engineering a patient’s own T cells to express novel T-cell receptors which are specific to Immatics’ XPRESIDENT® targets. ACTallo™ is an allogenic approach that will use off-the-shelf T cells that have been engineered to express novel T-cell receptors. Immatics believes its adoptive cellular therapy will be both efficacious and safe due to the specificity of its novel well-characterized targets, including novel over-expressed, cancer-testis and neo-antigens ideally suited for specific and safe ACT approaches. lmmatics has been benefiting from MDACC\'s outstanding understanding of cancer immunotherapy. Two leading MD Anderson scientists, Patrick Hwu, M.D., Division Head of Cancer Medicine, and Cassian Yee, M.D., Professor of Medical Melanoma Oncology, have laid the scientific foundation for the adoptive cell therapy development plans of lmmatics US, Inc., and they will continue to provide ongoing practical support and guidance as the Company develops its ACT approaches and therapies. Immatics has also gained access to various technologies developed or in-licensed by MD Anderson. These include the use of the cytokine IL-21 for expansion of T cells, a gamma-delta T-cell platform for allogeneic cell therapy approaches and various technologies designed to optimize the development of ACT.
The first ACTolog™, ACTengine™ and ACTallo™ clinical candidates, targeting cancers with high medical need, are expected to enter the clinic in 2016.
Immatics US, Inc. has been awarded a $19.7 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). It has also received a commitment for over $40 million of funding from the parent company, Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH. MD Anderson is a shareholder of Immatics US, Inc.
Immatics US, Inc. is led by Harpreet Singh (Chief Executive Officer), Steffen Walter (Chief Scientific Officer), Toni Weinschenk (Chief Technology Officer) and Carsten Reinhardt (Chief Medical Officer). Immatics US, Inc. is based in Houston, Texas.
Financial terms:
Latest news:
