GSK and Immatics Forge Strategic Collaboration to Advance Next-Generation TCR-T Cell Therapies for Solid Tumors

Compiled by Fan Dongdong

Latest news indicates that biopharmaceutical company Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH is collaborating with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop novel adoptive cell therapies for various oncology indications.

Current CAR-T therapies on the market are autologous therapies, such as Novartis’s Kymriah and Gilead’s Yescarta. Adoptive cell therapy is a novel form of immunotherapy that involves extracting T cells from a patient’s blood, genetically engineering them to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on their surface, and then reinfusing the modified T cells back into the patient. These CARs enable the T cells to recognize specific protein antigens on the surface of cancer cells, thereby targeting and destroying tumor cells to achieve therapeutic efficacy.

However, this process is time-consuming and expensive. Many companies are researching so-called off-the-shelf cell therapies, which will be based on T cells extracted from healthy donors and pre-engineered to target specific cancer antigens, thereby reducing treatment time and lowering hospital costs.

Under the strategic collaboration agreement, Immatics and GSK will collaborate to research and develop next-generation T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies focused on solid tumors. The initial plan is to utilize autologous T-cell therapy, with the option to incorporate allogeneic cell therapy using Immatics’ ACTallo platform.

Under the terms of the transaction, GSK will pay Immatics upfront payments totaling approximately $50 million for two initial programs. Immatics is also eligible to receive over $550 million in various commercial milestone payments, as well as additional royalties. In the future, GSK has the option to include more projects in the collaboration. For each collaborative project, Immatics is eligible to receive option fees, milestone payments, and royalties. As a result, the total value of this deal could exceed $1 billion, and may continue to increase if GSK chooses to include additional target programs.

Immatics, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Tübingen, Germany, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing cell therapies and innovative biologics for various cancers. In recent years, Immatics has actively pursued external collaborations, previously entering into partnership agreements with Amgen, Celgene, and Genmab. Under this new collaboration with GSK, Immatics will largely complete the development and validation of T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies up to the selection of clinical candidates. At that stage, GSK will assume full responsibility for global development, manufacturing, and commercialization, while Immatics may co-develop one or more TCRs.

Harpreet Singh, CEO of Immatics, stated: “By combining Immatics’ leading targeted therapy and TCR discovery platforms with GSK’s advanced manufacturing and development capabilities, as well as its commitment to next-generation TCR-T technologies, the two companies are jointly developing effective novel cancer therapies to meet the unmet clinical needs of patients.”

GSK entered this field in 2014 through a collaboration with Adaptimmune, a company dedicated to developing therapies that harness the body’s own mechanisms to fight cancer. In 2016, GSK further increased its investment to accelerate the development of treatments for soft tissue sarcoma. Additionally, GSK has entered into R&D collaboration and manufacturing agreements with Lyell Immunopharma and Hitachi Chemical for related therapies.

Reference Source: Immatics and GSK Team Up to Develop and Advance T-Cell Therapies