Industry Biotechnology Website www.immunocore.com Type of business Private | Founder Dr. Bent Jakobsen Founded 2008 | |
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Key people Eliot Forster, CEO; Jonathan Knowles, Chairman; Nicholas Cross, Deputy Chairman of the Board Products Cancer drugs/treatments using T-Cell receptor technology | ||
Interview with immunocore
Immunocore is a privately owned British clinical-stage biotechnology company, based in Oxfordshire, which researches and develops cancer treatments using T-cell receptors (TCRs).
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History
Immunocore was founded in 2008 as a spinout of German Medigene AG who had acquired former Avidex in 2006, which was founded in 1999 as a spinout from the University of Oxford by Dr Bent Jakobsen.
In July 2013 GlaxoSmithKline paid ₤142 million for the rights to pre-clinical drugs they had developed which act against several targets that Immunocore had been working on. In June 2013 Immunocore had entered into a similar deal with Genentech, which, according to the deal, would earn Immunocore an initiation fee of between $10 million and $20 million for each lead program initiated by Genentech and in excess of $300 million in milestone payments for each target programme and significant tiered royalties. In January 2014 MedImmune - the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca - announced the next oncology research collaboration and licensing agreement for Immunocore, who then was eligible to receive an upfront payment of $20 million and up to $300 million in development and commercial milestone payments for each target programme selected as well as significant tiered royalties if these programmes are successful.
Scientific background
TCRs are molecules found on the surface of T lymphocytes (or T cells) and play various roles in the immune system. TCRs are often cited as aiding in recognising foreign antigens being presented by cells which have been infected by viruses or intracellular bacteria. Immunocore has developed a line of biologic medicines by combining engineered, cancer-recognizing TCRs with immune activating complexes, which, in theory, creates a drug that directs the immune system to kill cancer cells. These drugs are commonly referred to as immune-mobilizing monoclonal TCRs against cancer (ImmTACs).
IMCgp100
IMCgp100 is an immunotherapy for melanoma. Clinical trial results reported April 2015.
Corporate governance
The inaugural chairman of Immunocore's board of directors was Nicholas Cross. In late 2013, Jonathan Knowles succeeded Cross in this position, and Cross was retained as deputy chairman. Knowles had previously served as a non-executive director since 2010.
In February 2015, it was published that Eliot Forster had joined Immunocore as chief executive officer (CEO).