Amgen has formed a research collaboration and license agreement with Immatics Biotechnologies, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Tuebingen, Germany and Houston, Texas, to develop T-cell engaging bispecific immunotherapies targeting multiple cancers in a deal worth $530 million.

Under the agreement, Immatics will receive an upfront fee of $30 million and is eligible to receive over $500 million in development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments for each program and tiered royalties up to a double-digit percentage of net sales. The collaboration will combine Immatics’ XPresident target and T-cell receptor discovery platform with Amgen’s bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) technology with the aim of creating oncology drugs. Amgen will be responsible for clinical development, manufacturing, and commercialization worldwide.

Immatics’ XPresident platform identifies tumor-specific peptide antigens, which can be applicable to developing immuno-oncology drugs such as adoptive cellular therapies, biologicals, and vaccines, according to the company.

Source: Immatics Biotechnologies