immatics Enters Collaboration with Cancer Research UK
immatics Enters Collaboration with Cancer Research UK to Develop Multi-target Rationally Designed Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine
Tuebingen, February 16, 2010 - immatics biotechnologies GmbH, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing rationally designed therapeutic vaccines that are active against cancer, today announced it has signed a collaboration with Cancer Research UK for the further development of immatics' therapeutic cancer vaccine IMA950 in glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Under the terms of the agreement, Cancer Research UK will sponsor and conduct a Phase I trial of IMA950 to be carried out at leading glioma research centres in the UK via its Drug Development Office. immatics will supply the drug IMA950 for the trial and also undertake immunomonitoring in the treated patients.
After the completion of the study, immatics will have an exclusive first right to take a license to the data for further development of IMA950. No financial details were disclosed.
Paul Higham, CEO of immatics said: "Cancer Research UK is a world-renowned cancer research organisation and we are delighted that through this collaboration we will be able to efficiently move our third therapeutic cancer vaccine into the clinic, highlighting the wide applicability and productivity of our XPRESIDENTTM technology platform."
Dr Victoria John, head of clinical partnerships at Cancer Research UK's Drug Development Office, said: "We're very pleased to be taking on the next stage of this vaccine's development. This form of glioma is very difficult to treat successfully and we hope this trial will help to establish if the immatics vaccine might offer another viable treatment option for people with this type of cancer."
IMA950 is a therapeutic cancer vaccine generated through immatics' proprietary XPRESIDENTTM technology. It consists of 11 tumour-associated peptides (TUMAPs) which the immatics platform selects on the basis of their natural presentation by tumour tissue, immunogenicity and their relevance to tumour function. This unique approach to rationally designed therapeutic vaccines which are a combination of multiple, highly relevant tumour peptides is at the core of all immatics' clinical programmes.
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For additional information on immatics please visit www.immatics.com<http://www.immatics.com> or contact:
Katrin Eckert, Assistant to the Management immatics biotechnologies GmbH Phone: +49-7071-5397-110 E-mail: [email protected]
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
David Dible / Chris Gardner / Amber Bielecka
Phone: +44 207 638 9571
E-mail: [email protected]
About immatics
immatics biotechnologies is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing rationally designed therapeutic vaccines that are active against cancer. immatics' lead product, IMA901 has completed a Phase II trial in renal cell carcinoma. immatics' pipeline also includes IMA910, in Phase II for colorectal cancer, and IMA950 which is being developed for glioma.
immatics' technology platform rapidly generates defined therapeutic cancer vaccines which are based on multiple tumour-associated peptides (TUMAPs) with the ability to specifically stimulate the immune system against cancer cells. These vaccines - comprising multiple peptides confirmed to be naturally presented by real tumour tissue - offer the prospect of greater effectiveness than existing cancer vaccine approaches. immatics' products are ‘drug like' with stable, off-the-shelf formulations and robust easily scalable manufacturing.
immatics is based in Tuebingen and Munich, Germany, and has raised more than ?? million (US$ 72million) in private equity in two financing rounds.
About Cancer Research UK
- Cancer Research UK is the world's leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research. The charity's groundbreaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives. This work is funded entirely by the public.
- Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates double in the last thirty years.
- Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of more than 4,800 scientists, doctors and nurses.
- Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to beat cancer.
For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 020 7121 6699 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org