Immatics Launches Phase 2 Study On Cancer Vaccine IMA901

Main Category: Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Urology / Nephrology;  Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 26 Sep 2007 - 15:00 PDT

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Immatics biotechnologies announced the start of a Europe-wide Phase 2 clinical study on its IMA901 product candidate, a peptide-based therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of renal cell cancer. With this move, the Tuebingen-based biotechnology company is swiftly building upon its Phase 1 study, which was successfully concluded in 2006 and whose highly promising results were presented at this year's Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago. In addition to safety and tolerability, the Phase 1 study also demonstrated IMA901's immunological efficacy, as well as a correlation between the immune response that it stimulates and a stabilization of the disease in renal cancer cell patients.

The Phase 2 study which has started in September will treat some 70 patients in ten European countries who suffer from metastatic renal cell cancer. The first patient was treated with IMA901 at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, Germany. Prof. Dr. Alexander Schmittel, Head of the Department of Haematology and Oncology, notes: "We definitively hope that this potential immunotherapeutic from immatics represents an alternative treatment method for our patients who suffer from renal cell cancer."

immatics' Chief Medical Officer Dr. Juergen Frisch stresses the fast pace of development for IMA901. In less than three years since the launch of preclinical development, he explains, immatics has succeeded in concluding the first clinical phase quickly, efficiently and with convincing results. Frisch: "With the swift launch of the Phase 2 study, immatics is underscoring its professionalism and competence in the clinical development of product candidates. We are firmly convinced that IMA901 will be able to provide a significant improvement in the treatment of renal cell cancer."

About immatics

immatics (http://www.immatics.com) is an independent biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative therapeutic vaccines for cancer therapy. immatics' product candidates are based on tumor-associated peptides (TUMAPs) which specifically stimulate the immune system against cancer cells. In 2007, the company launched an international clinical phase 2 study on its lead product candidate, IMA901, for therapy of renal cancer. Another immunotherapeutic vaccine for the treatment of colorectal cancer, IMA910, will soon enter clinical development. In addition, several further peptide-based product candidates are currently undergoing preclinical development and form the basis for a rapidly growing product pipeline for combating major types of cancer.

Formed in the year 2000 as a spin-off from the Institute of Immunology at the University of Tuebingen, immatics has raised €54 million (US$ 73 million) in total of venture capital funding and employs more than 50 people today. The members of the immatics Supervisory Board include Actelion co-founder Thomas Widmann (Chairman) as well as Friedrich von Bohlen, Christof Hettich (both with Dievini), Erich Schlick (Wellington Partners), Klaus Stoeckemann (3i) and GPC Biotech CSO Sebastian Meier-Ewert.

http://www.immatics.com