Immunocore & GSK in Potential $500-Million Plus Deal
Immunocore Limited, the Oxford-based biotechnology company developing novel biological drugs called ImmTACs to treat cancer and viral disease, recently announced it has entered into a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for multiple novel targets not addressable using antibody-based technologies. This is Immunocore’s second major partnership this year.
Under the terms of the agreement, Immunocore will receive up to a total of £142 million in preclinical milestone payments across the targets. In addition, for each product that reaches the market, up to £200 million is due to Immunocore in development and commercial milestone payments, plus up to double-digit royalties. Immunocore will be responsible for all of the preclinical development and for the initial clinical trials in patients, and GSK will be responsible for the remaining development and commercialisation of the products.
Immunocore has created a world-leading platform of bi-specific biological drugs, called ImmTACs (Immune mobilizing mTCR Against Cancer), which exploit the power of T Cell Receptors (TCRs) to recognize intracellular changes that occur during cancer or viral infection. This unique recognition ability of TCRs sets them apart from traditional antibody-based therapies that can only recognize changes on the surface of cells, and provides, for the first time, the ability to develop extremely potent targeted therapies for cancers that are currently poorly served. The most advanced ImmTAC drug, IMCgp100 for the treatment of melanoma, is currently in Phase I/II clinical trials in the UK and US.
“We are delighted to collaborate with GSK, our second major partnership signed this year,” said James Noble, Chief Executive Officer of Immunocore. “GSK is a leading pharmaceutical company with a proven track record in the development of biotherapeutics and this is an important partnership for Immunocore.”
“We are very excited about the opportunity to work together with Immunocore to develop ImmTACs. We believe ImmTACs offer a tremendous opportunity in treating cancer and in other areas where there is a large unmet medical need,” added Laurent Jespers, VP and Head of Innovation BDU, Biopharm R&D of GSK.
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