AstraZeneca’s MedImmune signs new collaboration deal with Immunocore

AstraZeneca has announced that its global biologics research and development arm MedImmune has entered into a new collaboration and licensing agreement with Immunocore.

The alliance will see the two companies teaming up to develop novel cancer therapies using Immunocore's Immune Mobilising Monoclonal T-Cell Receptor Against Cancer (ImmTAC) technology.

This platform uses the body's own immune system to find and kill diseased cells. In this case, a patient's T cells could potentially be directed to specifically destroy only cancerous cells, avoiding damage to healthy tissue.

ImmTACs will be generated against selected cancer targets, with AstraZeneca and MedImmune possessing rights to further develop and commercialise these products as part of their immune-mediated cancer therapy portfolio.

Dr Bahija Jallal, executive vice-president at MedImmune, said: "We look forward to collaborating with Immunocore on this promising area of cancer research that has the potential to further enhance our immune-mediated cancer therapy portfolio for patients with a range of cancer types."

This comes after AstraZeneca announced another new oncology-focused collaboration with Horizon Discovery earlier this week.