Immatics secures €34m for cancer vaccine program
This article was originally published in Scrip
Immatics Biotechnologies, a German cancer vaccine developer, has closed a €34m series D financing round.
The round was supported by existing investors including dievini Hopp Biotech, Wellington Partners, MIG-advised funds and AT Impf. No new investors participated.
Under the terms of the fundraising, Immatics will receive the first €12m tranche of funding immediately. The new cash will enable Immatics to complete the development of its lead vaccine IMA901, which is in a pivotal Phase III trial, including all preparatory activities for regulatory filings in the US and Europe.
IMA901 is a cancer vaccine made up of 10 different tumor-associated peptides (TUMAPs) that are over-expressed in the majority of patients suffering from renal cell carcinoma (RCC). It has orphan drug designation in the US and Europe for the treatment of RCC in HLA-A*02 positive patients.
The Phase III trial has been designed to evaluate overall survival with IMA901 in combination with sunitinib (Pfizer's Sutent), the current standard first-line therapy, compared with sunitinib alone in patients with metastatic and/ or locally advanced RCC. The trial has enrolled 339 patients at sites in the US and Europe. Interim overall survival results are expected in 2014, with final data in 2015.
A Phase II study with IMA901 in advanced RCC patients showed that patients who produced an immune response to two or more of the TUMAPs contained in IMA901 had a significantly longer survival, as published in Nature Medicine in 2012 (scripintelligence.com, 30 July 2012).
Other cancer vaccines in development for kidney cancer include Oxford BioMedica's TroVax and Argos Therapeutics' dendritic cell product AGS-003.
Cancer vaccine development has had significant news coverage in recent weeks.
GlaxoSmithKline's cancer vaccine candidate MAGE-A3 recently failed to meet the first co-primary endpoint in a Phase III melanoma trial. However, GSK intends to continue the DERMA trial until the second co-primary endpoint is assessed in 2015 (scripintelligence.com, 5 September 2013).
Meanwhile, Merck Serono is to begin a new Phase III trial of its cancer vaccine Stimuvax, which failed in a pivotal Phase III trial last year. The product, renamed tecemotide, will be studied in a subgroup in which a benefit had been seen in the previous trial (scripintelligence.com, 25 September 2013).