OXFORD, U.K. & CONSHOHOCKEN, Penn.—Mid-November saw news of a newly established partnership between Immunocore Limited and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, that will expand their existing oncology discovery collaboration. Per the agreement, Immunocore will head up a first-in-human clinical trial evaluating IMC-C103C’s safety and preliminary efficacy, both alone and in combination with atezolizumab. Genentech will make a payment to Immunocore of $100 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments. Once Immunocore attains proof-of-concept data, it has the option of continuing to co-develop the compound through commercialization, or licensing IMC-C103C, for which it will receive milestone payments and royalties.

 

Dr. James Sabry, Roche’s global head of pharma partnering, noted that: “We’ve had a very productive collaboration with Immunocore since we began our initial partnership in 2013. We’re excited to move this first molecule forward, both as a single agent and in combination with Tecentriq, and to further explore the role of T cell receptor-directed medicines in fighting cancer.”