Immunocore Limited, a world-leading biotechnology company developing novel T cell receptor (TCR) based biological drugs to treat cancer, viral infections and autoimmune disease, announced that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has selected the first clinical candidate as part of a discovery collaboration, resulting in an undisclosed milestone payment to Immunocore.

The candidate selected ImmTAC addresses a target relevant in a number of different cancer indications including synovial sarcoma, bladder and non-small cell lung (NSCL) cancers.

Immunocore will now undertake further preclinical testing and cGMP manufacture before progressing the ImmTAC to phase I clinical development.

Eliot Forster, chief executive officer of Immunocore, said, “We are delighted by the progress being made in our collaboration with GSK, one of our key alliance partners, and look forward to the first ImmTAC under this agreement entering the clinic in due course.”

Bent Jakobsen, chief scientific officer of Immunocore, said, “Our proprietary ImmTACs are soluble TCRs that naturally recognise diseased cells with ultra-high affinity and enable circulating T cells to be re-directed to kill the diseased cells. We believe that this technology has significant potential in the treatment of a range of cancers, and we are delighted to be working with GSK as it moves towards clinical development.”

Axel Hoos, vice president oncology R&D at GSK, said, “Selection of this ImmTAC clinical candidate is an important milestone in our successful collaboration with Immunocore and speaks to the strong science underlying the ImmTAC platform. As GSK continues to explore potential next generation immuno-oncology therapies, we look forward to learning more about this asset as development progresses. ”