immatics discovers and develops tumor-associated peptides (TUMAPs) for the immunotherapy of cancer. On the basis of our proprietary drug discovery technologies we identify HLA-binding TUMAPs with highest sensitivity directly from primary human tumor tissue samples.

From thousands of identified TUMAPs the most suitable ones are selected and combined to a single multi-peptide product to form a therapeutic cancer vaccine. The goal is to provoke a number of specific T-cell responses which finally result in the destruction of tumor cells presenting the applied TUMAPs.

The drug discovery technology itself can be applied to most types of cancer thus enabling immatics to create a strong clinical and preclinical pipeline in a very short time.

From the first steps of TUMAP discovery to the beginning of clinical testing (Phase I) immatics needs 24 months or less. Our most advanced product, IMA901, has entered a Europe-wide multi-center Phase II clinical trial in 2007. The second product, IMA910, has recently entered a large Phase I/II trial and further product candidates are currently in pre-clinical development. The proof-of-concept for this development process has been established with IMA901 and immatics expects to be at least as quick for the upcoming product candidates.