The US group Moderna and the Tübingen cancer specialist Immatics have agreed on an extensive cooperation. The goal is innovative cancer vaccines based on mRNA.
A new collaboration in the biotech industry could pave the way for novel cancer therapies. The US biotech company Moderna and the Tübingen cancer specialist Immatics want to work together to develop vaccinations that could be used in the treatment of cancer patients.
As part of the potentially billion-dollar partnership, a cancer drug under development from Immatics will be tested in studies in combination with an mRNA cancer vaccine from Moderna.
Immatics receives an upfront payment of $120 million from Moderna. In addition, research funding and performance-related milestone payments are available, which could amount to more than $1.7 billion. The Tübingen-based company is also entitled to license fees for possible products from the partnership.
Use in the Fighting tumors
Certain preventive vaccinations against cancer, i.e. against cancer-causing pathogens such as human papilloma viruses (HPV), are already established. There are also approaches to combat existing diseases, for example by administering monoclonal antibodies. The current cooperation also aims to use certain mRNA-based molecules against cancer-specific target structures as part of a therapy.
Immatics, founded in 2000 as a spin-off from the University of Tübingen, specializes in the development of immunotherapies against cancer. It has not yet brought its own drug onto the market. According to data from LSEG, the largest shareholder in the company, which is listed on the Nasdaq technology exchange, is the investment company of SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp with almost 22 percent. Moderna has become known in this country with its vaccine against Covid-19.