Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation support development of immunotherapies

T-cell receptor (TCR) company, Immunocore, has announced it will receive $40 million investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate development of its TCR-based therapeutics for infectious diseases.

This collaborative project will see the discovery and development of Immunocore’s ImmTAV (Immune mobilising monoclonal TCRs Against Virus) and ImmTAB (Immune mobilising monoclonal TCRs Against Bacteria) therapeutics for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Additionally, the company will continue to expand its platform technology.

“Many infectious diseases continue to represent a huge and growing global challenge,” commented Eliot Forster, chief executive officer at Immunocore. “We’re delighted and honoured that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the most significant forces for positive change in global healthcare, has recognised the potential of Immunocore’s platform technology for advancing novel therapeutics for infectious diseases such as TB and HIV.”

“The Foundation is committed to supporting and translating scientific research that can have transformative impact on those conditions that cause the greatest burden of morbidity and mortality in the world at large,” added Chris Karp, director of Discovery & Translational Sciences at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We are excited to support the development of Immunocore’s TCR-based platform because we believe these treatments have the potential to make a fundamental difference in the lives of patients infected with TB and HIV.”

“We believe the immune system harbours the capacity to resolve problematic infectious diseases and our TCR based therapies are well placed to mobilise this process,” stated Namir Hassan, vice president of the Infectious Disease Unit at Immunocore. “Our purpose in the Immunocore infectious disease unit is to revolutionise treatments for diseases such as hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and HIV and provide affordable medicines globally including in the developing world. This collaboration will be critical to this initiative.”