$100 million to help solid tumor immunotherapy enter the clinical phase, Genente update research and development cooperation

Today, Immunocore, the industry's leading T-cell-subject (TCR) biotech company, announced that it has signed a new research and development cooperation agreement with Roche's Genentech to jointly develop Immunocore's candidate therapy, IMC-C103C. It is a dual-specific molecule based on TCR structure that targets the expression of melanoma-related antigen A4 (MAGE-A4) tumor antigens and is capable of efficiently specifically activating T cells to kill tumor cells.
immunocore's unique technology platform to generate innovative dual-specific biometric molecules called ImTAC. It fuses TCR, which identifies tumor antigens, with an antibody fragment that targets CD3, so that the confirmed antigen can be identified at one end of the ImTAC molecule and the CD3 subject on the surface of the T cell can be activated at the other end, thus effectively and specifically activating T cells to kill tumor cells. Immunocore's technology platform has also improved TCR to improve their affinity against the original, increasing their stability and allowing them to function as well as tumor antigen expression levels.
cooperation agreement, Immunocore will be responsible for the initial clinical research and development work in humans to confirm the safety and initial efficacy of IMC-C103C as a single drug or in association with atzolizumab. The clinical trial, which will recruit patients with different types of solid tumors, is scheduled to begin in early 2019. Geneneck will pay Immunocore $100 million in advance and follow-up payments based on recent milestones. After obtaining the proof-of-concept data, Immunocore has the right to continue to develop and promote IMC-C103C with Genente, or the right to develop this candidate therapy can be transferred entirely to Genentek for other milestone payments and sales share.
, chief executive of Immunocore, said: "MAGE-A4 is a known cancer-related antigen expressed on the surface of multiple cancers. Geneneck is a leading company in oncology and has expertise in immunology. We look forward to starting this new partnership with IMC-C103C, which has the potential to ultimately improve the lives of patients with MAGE-A4-positive tumors. Dr
Sabry, head of global pharmaceutical collaborations at Roche, said: "Since our partnership with Immunocore in 2013, we have had a great deal of success. We are pleased to be able to advance this molecule to the clinical stage and will continue to explore the role of TCR-based therapies in the treatment of cancer. (Bio Valley)