Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest up to $40m in the biological drug developer, which raised $320m in an Eli Lilly-backed round two years ago.
Charitable foundation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation agreed yesterday to invest up to $40m in Immunocore, the UK-based biological drug developer spun out of biotech company MediGene in 2008.
Immunocore is working on T-cell receptor-based drugs that will treat cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases. The foundation’s investment will support the development of therapies for tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The company’s origins can be traced back to University of Oxford, which spun out Avidex in 1999 before that company was acquired by MediGene in 2006. MediGene then spun out Immunocore in 2008.
Eliot Forster, Immunocore’s chief executive, said: “Many infectious diseases continue to represent a huge and growing global challenge.
“We are 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 funding follows a $320m round in mid-2015 featuring pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, Woodford Investment Management, Malin Corporation, RTW Investments and undisclosed new and existing backers.
Eli Lilly’s participation in the 2015 round came the year after it signed a co-discovery and co-development collaboration with Immunocore, which also has collaboration agreements in place with drug producers Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline and MedImmune.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site Global Corporate Venturing.
