Immunocore nabs US$40m from Gates Foundation

Under the agreement, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest up to $40m in Immunocore to support development of Immunocore’s small protein molecules ImmTAV (a T cell receptor directed against an immunodominant HIV epitope, and its escape variants, fused to an anti-CD3 scFv domain) and ImmTAB (TCR against immunodominant bacterial target, fused to an anti-CD3 scFv domain) therapeutics for the treatment of tuberculosis (1.8 million deaths annually) and human immunodeficiency virus (1 million deaths annually). According to Immunocore, the TCR-based therapeutics have the potential to reduce treatment timelines and improve patient…