- -- 28 November 2005
- immatics launches Phase 1 clinical study on cancer vaccine IMA901
- -- 22 November 2005
- immatics biotechnologies strengthens Supervisory Board with Dr. Klaus Stöckemann
- -- 01 August 2005
- immatics receives BMBF grant for development of product candidates
- -- 15 April 2005
- immatics receives recognition for progress in cancer immunotherapy
- -- 26 January 2005
- immatics biotechnologies adds to management team
immatics launches Phase 1 clinical study on cancer vaccine IMA901
immatics biotechnologies GmbH, a leader in the development of peptide-based immunotherapeutic substances for the 5 treatment of cancers, announces the beginning of a Phase 1 clinical study on its product candidate IMA901. Under the study, some two dozen patients suffering from advanced stages of renal cell cancer will be treated in six locations in Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. “With this study, we will be determining the immunoefficacy and compatibility of our new vaccine, thus laying 10 the groundwork for a more far-reaching Phase 2 study,” explains immatics Chief Medical Officer Juergen Frisch.
CSO Harpreet Singh stresses the short preclinical study phase, saying: “We are launching this study only 22 months after the successful conclusion of our first round of funding, and are convinced that we’ll also be able to make rapid progress 15 in the clinical environment.” It typically takes a number of years before a company’s first product candidate can enter clinical development. In the case of immatics, it was only at the beginning of 2004 that a consortium under the lead of 3i and Wellington Partners had invested a total of € 14.1 million in the company.
The swift pace of development stems from immatics’ unrivaled technological
20 platform for quickly identifying and validating hundreds of suitable peptide antigens, so-called TUMAPs (tumor-associated peptides) from human tumor tissue. IMA901, for example, consists of 11 different peptide antigens, which are all found in the majority of renal cell cancer patients. This is likely to dramatically increase the probability that these antigens will be able to sensitize the human immune system 25 against the tumor tissue, thus activating the body’s own defensive mechanisms. “Up until now, we haven’t had any effective therapeutic approaches for combating renal cell cancer. We have high hopes for our new immunotherapeutic substance IMA901. That’s why our clinic, together with an international network of further experienced hospitals, is attaching top priority to the development of this highly 30 promising substance,” explains Prof. Arnulf Stenzl from the Tuebingen Urological Clinic, which was selected to serve as the lead center for the study.
For immatics, the clinical study on IMA901 represents the first step in the
development of new products. Having its own development platform enables the company to swiftly identify and validate further potential immunotherapeutic 35 substances for combating cancers, such as pancreatic or colorectal cancers. “I don’t currently know of any other biotech company that has so swiftly taken its first product candidate into clinical development and that additionally possesses this kind of potential for further candidates,” notes Thomas Widmann, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of immatics and a co-founder of Swiss-based 40 biopharmaceutical company Actelion.