Immatics Extends Cell Therapy Manufacturing Collaboration With UTHealth

Immatics N.V. recently announced the extension of its cell therapy manufacturing collaboration with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), in Houston, TX. The continued collaboration grants Immatics access to UTHealth’s state-of-the-art cGMP manufacturing infrastructure at the Evelyn H. Griffin Stem Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratory, enabling continued production and supply of Immatics’ specialized, cell-based product candidates for testing in multiple clinical trials. Maximum capacity of the facility is anticipated at 48 ACTengine T cell products per month. The new agreement will run until the end of 2024. Under the agreement, UTHealth will provide Immatics with exclusive access to three cGMP suites and support areas for the manufacturing of various Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT) products. Therapeutic T cell production will be carried out by Immatics’ manufacturing personnel and will be supported by a UTHealth-Immatics joint quality team.

Steffen Walter, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Immatics, commented “During the last 5 years, we have established a strong and productive partnership with UTHealth that has enabled the initiation of four ongoing clinical trials. As we remain focused on the development of our clinical pipeline, this extension of our collaboration with UTHealth will fulfill Immatics’ manufacturing needs for our early-stage ACT clinical programs for the next four years. Being able to rely on a partner with profound cell therapy expertise who is familiar with our technologies and can support cGMP cell therapy production is critical to ensuring the advancement of our clinical trials. We look forward to continuing this fruitful collaboration with the experts at UTHealth.”

Fabio Triolo, DdR, MPhil, PhD, The Clare A. Glassell Distinguished Chair and Director of the Cellular Therapy Core at UTHealth, added “Signing the extended contract with Immatics fits into our strategy at UTHealth of supporting the development of new treatments for patients in need. We therefore look forward to continuing our collaboration and further leveraging the potential of our manufacturing capabilities.”

ACTengine is a personalized approach in which the patient’s own T cells are genetically modified to express a novel proprietary TCR cognate to one of Immatics’ proprietary cancer targets which are then reinfused back into the patient. Immatics’ latest proprietary ACTengine manufacturing processes are designed to generate cell product candidates within a short 6-day manufacturing window and to deliver highly proliferative T cells, with the capability to infiltrate the patient’s tumor and function in a challenging solid tumor microenvironment. The process is designed to rapidly produce younger, better-persisting T cells capable of “serial” killing tumor cells in vitro. Immatics’ is further advancing the ACT concept beyond individualized manufacturing with its product class ACTallo, which is being developed to generate “off-the-shelf” cellular therapies.

More information on the clinical trials can be found at the following links: https://immatics.com/clinical-programs/ and https://clinicaltrials.gov/.

Immatics combines the discovery of true targets for cancer immunotherapies with the development of the right T cell receptors with the goal of enabling a robust and specific T cell response against these targets. This deep know-how is the foundation for our pipeline of Adoptive Cell Therapies and TCR Bispecifics as well as our partnerships with global leaders in the pharmaceutical industry. We are committed to delivering the power of T cells and to unlocking new avenues for patients in their fight against cancer. For more information, visit www.immatics.com.

Established in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is Houston’s Health University and Texas’ resource for health care education, innovation, scientific discovery and excellence in patient care. The most comprehensive academic health center in the UT System and the U.S. Gulf Coast region, UTHealth is home to Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing, John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School and schools of biomedical informatics, biomedical sciences, dentistry and public health. UTHealth includes The University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center, as well as the growing clinical practices UT Physicians, UT Dentists and UT Health Services. The university’s primary teaching hospitals are Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital. For more information, visit www.uth.edu.

The Evelyn H. Griffin Stem Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratory, which is part of the Cellular Therapy Core at UTHealth, has been Immatics’ manufacturing partner since 2015. The site is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-registered and inspected cGMP facility that has received accreditation from the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) as well as certification from the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) and the College of American Pathologists (CAP).