Amgen and Immatics enter $1bn immuno-oncology partnership

Amgen has announced it is to join forces with cancer immunotherapy biotech Immatics Biotechnologies in a partnership potentially worth over $1 billion to develop and commercialise T-cell engaging bispecific cancer immunotherapies.

The American pharma firm is looking to utilise Immatics’ XPRESIDENT target discovery and T-cell receptor technology with its own Bispecific T-cell Engager (BiTE) in a bid to develop novel oncology treatments. As part of the deal, Amgen will pay Immatics $30 million upfront and more than $500 million in milestone payments alongside potentially double-digit-percentage royalties of net sales. Amgen itself will handle global clinical development, manufacturing and marketing duties on the project.

On the news of the partnership, Sean E. Harper, executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen, commented:

"The intersection of immunology and oncology represents a promising and rapidly developing approach that can have a significant impact for patients with cancer. We look forward to collaborating with Immatics to translate their unique target and TCR discovery capabilities combined with Amgen's validated BiTE® technology into novel therapies." 

"We are very pleased to be entering this strategic collaboration with Amgen, which is contributing its bispecific T-cell engagers expertise, as together we look to develop novel immunotherapies that will deliver a step change in the treatment of several cancers,” remarked Carsten Reinhardt, managing director and chief medical officer at Immatics. “This collaboration also demonstrates Amgen's confidence in Immatics' world-leading immune-oncology target and TCR discovery capabilities."

Matt Fellows