Biotech firm Immunocore, which traces its roots to Oxford spin-out Avidex, has signed a pre-clinical milestone payment deal with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) worth £142m ($212m) to develop the next-generation of cancer-fighting drugs.
In addition, GSK will pay up to £200m ($300m) in development and commercial milestone payments for each product that reaches the market.
The deal comes a week after the Oxford-based firm entered into a research collaboration and licensing agreement with Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss pharma firm Roche.
The firm is developing T-Cell Receptor exploiting drugs ImmTACs, currently in Phase I/II trials in both the UK and US. Originally spun-out from Oxford University in 1999 as Avidex, the firm was acquired by biotech MediGene in 2006 before being spun-out once more as Immunocore in 2008 following a strategic review by the Germany-listed firm.
James Noble, chief executive of Immunocore, said, ”We are delighted to collaborate with GSK, our second major partnership signed this year. GSK is a leading pharmaceutical company with a proven track record in the development of biotherapeutics and this is an important partnership for Immunocore.”
