AZ to test checkpoint inhibitors with Immunocore's TCR candidate
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
AstraZeneca, via its MedImmune unit, has entered a second collaboration with promising UK biotech Immunocore in the area of immune-oncology. Under the new agreement, Immunocore will conduct a Phase Ib/II trial combining AstraZeneca's investigational checkpoint inhibitors MEDI4736 (anti-PD-L1) and/or tremelimumab (anti-CTLA-4) with IMCgp100, Immunocore's lead T-cell receptor based therapeutic candidate, for the potential treatment of metastatic melanoma. MedImmune will have first right of negotiation for the future commercial development of these combinations for tumours expressing gp100. The companies have a pre-existing agreement, announced in January 2014, to develop novel cancer therapies using Immunocore's Immune Mobilising Monoclonal T-Cell Receptor Against Cancer (ImmTAC) technology