Amgen and Immatics to collaborate for cancer drug research

"We are very pleased to be entering this strategic collaboration with Amgen, which is contributing its bispecific T-cell engagers expertise, as together we look to develop novel immunotherapies that will deliver a step change in the treatment of several cancers,” said Carsten Reinhardt, managing director and chief medical officer at Immatics.

Sean Harper, executive vice president of R&D at Amgen, added, “The intersection of immunology and oncology represents a promising and rapidly developing approach that can have a significant impact for patients with cancer. We look forward to collaborating with Immatics to translate their unique target and TCR discovery capabilities combined with Amgen's validated BiTE technology into novel therapies."  

T-cell engaging bispecifics leverage the body’s immune system by redirecting the T-cell response towards cancer cells expressing specific tumour antigens. Immatics' TCR-bispecifics and Amgen's BiTE antibody constructs each possess two or more binding domains. One such binding domain specific to an intracellular antigen discovered by Xpresident presented on the surface of a cancer cell; another such binding domain is designed to recognise a T-cell activator, such as CD3. This approach allows every T-cell to become activated and able to attack the tumour, independent of the T-cells’ intrinsic specificity. This bispecific approach is designed to improve the immunotherapies' ability to eradicate malignant cells while avoiding damage to healthy tissues.