"We do not know of any larger deals in the biotech space, assumingthat all of the programs reach the market, triggering all of the milestones,"he tells
DDNEWS. "Immunocore startedto promote partnerships as the data came through from the existing trial, withan ImmTAC addressing an antigen known as gp100, relevant to melanoma."
Each of the GSK and Genentech deals relate to an undisclosednumber of targets, "but Immunocore has many left," Noble notes. "It is intendedto strike one more partnership over the next year, and we already are talkingto a number of the largest companies about this third slot."
In each case, GSK and Genentech have selected unnamedtargets that address multiple cancers, he says. Immunocore will provide theImmTACs, and the partner will choose the first indication in due course.
"It is in the nature of T cell receptors that they generallyaddress multiple cancers," Noble says. "So one ImmTAC might be appropriate forsay, 40 percent of prostate patients and 25 percent of breast cancer patients,while another might be the other way around. In other words, like the antibodyHerceptin, the patients will be assessed to see whether they are positive forthe relevant antigen and then treated or excluded from the treatment."
Laurent Jespers, vice president and head of innovation forBiopharm R&D at GSK, stated in a news release, "We are very excited aboutthe opportunity to work together with Immunocore to develop ImmTACs. We believeImmTACs offer a tremendous opportunity in treating cancer and in other areaswhere there is a large unmet medical need."
