Houston, Texas, USA and Tuebingen, Germany, 21 August, 2017 – Immatics, a leading company in the field of cancer immunotherapy, today announced that it has initiated enrolment of patients into a phase I trial of its first adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) IMA101, using its proprietary ACTolog® approach. The IMA101 phase I trial is the first industry-sponsored trial using products consisting of autologous cytotoxic T lymphocytes targeting defined tumor antigens using Immatics’ novel and proprietary target warehouse. This single-center study is now open for enrollment at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
IMA101 is a personalized, multi-targeted investigational immunotherapy for the treatment of multiple solid tumors, including but not limited to ovarian cancer, gastric cancer, esophageal cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and non-small cell lung cancer. This study will include up to 20 patients with relapsed and/or refractory solid cancers, for which no established treatment is available.
The ACTolog® approach is based on the principle of expanding specific endogenous T-cells, a therapy pioneered by Cassian Yee, M.D., Professor at MD Anderson.
ACTolog® combines several innovative features:
- The target antigens have been validated as being naturally presented in various solid tumors by Immatics’ proprietary XPRESIDENT® target discovery platform.
- The ACTolog® approach generates multiple cell therapy products, each directed against a different tumor target. This approach is designed to be effective in the event of tumor escape variants, compared to targeting just one single antigen.
- The selection and manufacture of each patient’s ACTolog® cell therapy product is actively tailored by measuring the relative presence of eight pre-selected and well-characterized patient tumor-specific antigens.
The primary objective of the IMA101 study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of the ACTolog® approach in patients with target-positive solid cancers. Secondary objectives are the evaluation of feasibility, the persistence of T-cells in vivo, and assessment of anti-tumor activity and biomarkers. Apostolia Tsimberidou, M.D., Ph.D., Professor at the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at MD Anderson is the Principal Investigator for the IMA101 phase I trial.
Dr. Harpreet Singh, Immatics’ Chief Scientific Officer and CEO of Immatics US, commented: “Entering clinical development with our first adoptive cell therapy program is a significant step for Immatics, and highlights the ability of the XPRESIDENT® platform to identify novel and true tumor antigens directly from a patient’s tumor. We are very excited to be combining our unique target discovery capabilities with the world-leading expertise of key investigators from the MD Anderson Cancer Center. We believe that attacking multiple cancer targets simultaneously using our tailored approach may lead to promising new treatment options for cancer patients with significant unmet medical need.”
Additional information about this study is available at www.clinicaltrials.gov.
About Immatics
Immatics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company spearheading the development of advanced immunotherapies that are active against multiple cancer indications. Based in Tuebingen, Germany, and Houston, Texas, the company has recognized that novel, better and safer targets are the key to developing future cancer immunotherapies. Immatics has revolutionized the identification and qualification of novel, proprietary and tumor-specific peptide antigens (TUMAPs) by developing its world-leading T-cell receptor (TCR) and target discovery platform XPRESIDENT®. TUMAPs significantly expand the target space for immune-oncology as they are not limited to surface proteins, which are the targets of classical antibodies or CAR-T therapies. Immatics believes that, by using its proprietary expertise, it can unlock the significant potential of immune-oncology drugs.
Immatics’ pipeline includes several Bispecific TCR and T-cell therapy programs, including ACTolog® and ACTengine®, developed in collaboration through Immatics US with MD Anderson, and co-funded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). By using its world-leading target and TCR discovery expertise, Immatics aims to deliver safer, best-in-class immunotherapies to cancer patients with high medical need in multiple indications.
About ACTolog® T-cell therapy
The ACTolog® concept is based on the principle of endogenous T-cell therapy pioneered by Professor Cassian Yee, M.D. Unlike tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, ACTolog® T-cell products are generated from peripheral blood cells with defined target selectivity. Utilizing its proprietary antigen discovery platform XPRESIDENT®, Immatics has created a warehouse of eight cancer targets. From this warehouse, the most suitable targets for each patient’s tumor are identified by analyzing the tumor biomarkers. Up to four personalized T-cell products are then activated and manufactured for each patient by isolation and enrichment of the patient’s endogenous T-cells in vitro. Billions of such activated and specific T-cells are then re-infused into the cancer patient to attack the tumor.
For regular updates about Immatics, visit www.immatics.com.
Media Contact
Dr. Nikola Wiegeler
Email: [email protected]
+49 7071 5397 110
