Immatics Partners GSK in Deal Worth €1B to Develop Cancer Therapies

The German biotech Immatics will partner with GSK and could receive more than €1B from the big pharma for developing cancer immunotherapies based on engineered immune T-cells. Immatics will collaborate with GSK to develop two T-cell therapies that express a protein engineered to detect cancer antigens and kill cancer cells. In return, Immatics will receive €46M upfront and €509M in undisclosed developmental and commercial milestone payments per program, plus royalties. These therapies will be similar to currently approved CAR T-cell therapies such as Yescarta and Kymriah, where the patient’s T-cells are modified to kill cancer cells. However, while CAR T-cell therapies are limited to rare forms of blood cancer, Immatics’ T-cells are designed to target solid tumors.