Lilly and Immunocore announce new melanoma research collaboration

Lilly has announced a new partnership with Immunocore that will see the companies exploring the benefits of a new melanoma treatment approach.

The immunotherapy-based clinical trial collaboration will examine the efficacy of combining Immunocore's lead T cell receptor-based investigational therapy, IMCgp100, with Lilly's galunisertib and merestinib for the treatment of melanoma.

Through this work, the partners hope to identify combination regimens that provide synergies in efficacy and durability in patients with metastatic cutaneous and uveal melanomas.

Immunocore and Lilly will conduct a phase Ib/II clinical study to assess the safety and preliminary efficacy of the galunisertib combination, with a second merestinib-focused trial to follow. These studies are anticipated to begin in 2016.

Dr Richard Gaynor, senior vice-president for product development and medical affairs at Lilly Oncology, said: "This collaboration with Immunocore underscores Lilly's commitment to discovering the potential of combination therapies, which will be key to the future of cancer care for people fighting diseases such as melanoma."

This represents a continuation of a wider cancer collaboration with Immunocore that was announced in July last year.