Immunocore and Genentech collaborate to develop ImmTACs for multiple cancer targets

Immunocore, an Oxford, UK-based biotechnology company developing novel biological drugs known as ImmTACs to treat cancer and viral disease, has entered into a research collaboration and licensing agreement with Swiss drug major Roche’s (ROG: SIX) US biotech subsidiary Genentech, for the discovery and development of multiple novel cancer targets using Immunocore’s ImmTAC technology.

Under the terms of the deal, Immunocore will receive an initiation fee of between $10 and $20 million per program and is eligible to receive in excess of $300 million in development and commercial milestone payments for each target programme and significant tiered royalties.

Immunocore says it has created a world-leading platform of bi-specific biological drugs, called ImmTACs, which exploit the power of T Cell Receptors (TCRs) to recognise 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 recognise 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. A particular feature is that the ImmTACs can be directed to target and destroy only the cancerous cells, avoiding damage to healthy cells.