The partnership aims to pioneer innovative and transformative therapies for cancer patients facing substantial unmet medical needs
Moderna teams up with Immatics to develop new oncology therapeutics. (Credit: Tatiana from Pixabay)
Moderna and Immatics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specialising in the discovery and development of T cell-redirecting cancer immunotherapies, have announced a strategic research and development collaboration.
The partnership aims to pioneer innovative and transformative therapies for cancer patients facing substantial unmet medical needs.
The expansive, multi-platform collaboration will harness the profound scientific expertise and fundamental operational capabilities of both organisations. It will involve combining Immatics’ T cell receptor (TCR) platform with Moderna’s mRNA technology. The collaboration will encompass various therapeutic approaches, including bispecifics, cell therapy, and cancer vaccines.
The strategic research and development collaboration between Moderna and Immatics will centre around three key pillars:
Utilising Moderna’s mRNA Technology: Moderna’s mRNA technology will be employed to enable the in vivo expression of Immatics’ next-generation, half-life extended TCR bispecifics (TCER) that target cancer-specific HLA-presented peptides.
Developing mRNA-Based Cancer Vaccines: The collaboration will leverage Moderna’s extensive knowledge of mRNA science and Immatics’ wealth of tumour and normal tissue data from its target discovery platform XPRESIDENT, along with its bioinformatics and AI platform XCUBE. This combined expertise will facilitate the discovery and development of novel mRNA-based cancer vaccines.
Evaluating Combination Therapies: Immatics’ IMA203 TCR-T therapy, which targets PRAME, will be evaluated in combination with Moderna’s PRAME mRNA-based cancer vaccine. The collaboration contemplates conducting preclinical studies and a Phase 1 clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of this combination, with the aim of enhancing IMA203 T cell responses.
The strategic collaboration between Moderna and Immatics represents a significant step forward in the quest to develop cutting-edge cancer therapies that address the unmet medical needs of patients. It combines their respective strengths in mRNA technology and T cell immunotherapies to potentially offer new hope for cancer patients.
Moderna’s research and early development senior vice president Rose Loughlin said: “We are excited to embark on this strategic collaboration with Immatics, a pioneer in developing innovative cancer immunotherapies.
“This partnership presents a groundbreaking opportunity to leverage our mRNA technology alongside Immatics’ TCR platform, potentially diversifying and augmenting the way we approach cancer treatment.
“We believe this collaboration will accelerate the development of novel oncology therapies and bring us one step closer to providing significant benefits for patients with high unmet medical needs.”
Immatics chief innovation officer Toni Weinschenk said: “We are thrilled to join forces with Moderna in our quest to pioneer innovative and transformative therapies to combat cancer.
“We believe Immatics’ cancer target and TCR platforms, along with Moderna’s cutting-edge mRNA technology, represent a powerful combination that has the potential to deliver meaningful benefits to cancer patients.
“The rapid advancement of our first 2 TCER programmes into the clinic, with additional TCER compounds fuelling our pre-clinical pipeline, underscores our commitment to develop innovative therapeutics.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Immatics will receive an upfront payment of $120m, research funding, eligibility for development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments that could potentially exceed $1.7bn, tiered royalties on global net sales of TCER products and specific vaccine products commercialized under the agreement.
Furthermore, within the agreement, Immatics has the option to enter into a global profit and loss sharing arrangement for the most advanced TCER.
Moderna will take the lead in the clinical development and commercialisation of cancer vaccines and TCER therapeutics resulting from this collaboration. Immatics will be responsible for conducting preclinical studies and, potentially, a Phase 1 clinical trial examining IMA203 TCR-T in combination with the PRAME mRNA vaccine to enhance IMA203 T cell responses.
Both parties will retain full ownership of their investigational PRAME compounds, and the costs of the clinical study will be shared between them.
Within this collaboration, Immatics’ preclinical activities will be overseen by the Immatics Discovery Unit, an internal division that recently amalgamated the company’s technology platforms into a unified, interdisciplinary team dedicated to early-stage preclinical pipeline projects and collaborative programmes.
The execution of this collaboration is subject to customary antitrust clearance in the US.