Specific imaging of immune cell dynamics using novel tracer strategies.
LOS ANGELES, CA, October 1, 2019 – ImaginAb, Inc., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology imaging company, is delighted to be part of ‘Immune-Image,’ the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI2 JU) project, launching today and which includes top academic institutions, companies, and a patient organization. The project has been awarded a €30 million grant for an initial period of five years to support research into novel tracer strategies for clinical imaging of immune cell dynamics.
This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 831514. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).
Ian Wilson, CEO of ImaginAb, said: “We are very excited to be a part of this prestigious group and to have received this endorsement. As part of this joint technology initiative, we will have the opportunity to work with a group of first-class organizations to develop and implement our Immuno-PET technology in improving the care management of patients with cancer and autoimmune disease.”
Please find the official announcement below and at the link: www.immune-image.eu
Immune cells in the spotlight
Innovative Medicines Initiative awards 30 Million Euro grant supporting research into novel tracer strategies for clinical imaging of immune cell dynamics
The Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI2 JU) project ‘Immune-Image’ has been approved for funding and will start officially October 1st, 2019. Immune cells will be studied in vivo using non-invasive and clinically applicable high-end imaging techniques including Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Optical Imaging (OI) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The introduction of immunotherapeutic drugs for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory disease, where the drugs encourage the body’s own immune system to attack the disease, have had a significant impact. However, immunotherapies do not work for all patients. Immune-Image will develop methods to visualize and study the immune cells involved before, during, and after such treatments allowing selection of the right treatment for the right patient and at the right time. The information obtained about the immune cells and their activity during disease could be used to develop new drugs that might help those patients for which current immunotherapies are ineffective.
Immune-Image brings together 10 top European academic institutions, 4 small-to-medium sized enterprises, 1 patient organization and 7 pharmaceutical companies. The expert scientists working at the partner organizations of Immune-Image will collaborate to develop new imaging techniques, new tracers, new methods, and to facilitate efficient development of drugs in the future in order to improve health care for the European Citizen and beyond.
About IMI2-JU
Developing new medicines is difficult, costly, inefficient and time-consuming. The IMI2-JU, a joint technology initiative between the European Union (EU) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), supports collaborative research projects that bring together all the parties involved in health research (universities, pharmaceutical and other industries, small and medium-sized enterprises, patient organizations, medicine regulators) to improve the entire development process and make it more efficient, giving patients faster access to better and safer medicines.
About Immune-Image
The project is coordinated by Prof Albert D. Windhorst, Amsterdam University Medical Center, location VUmc, The Netherlands, with scientific project leadership from F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland. The project is intended to run for an initial period of 5-years with a total research budget of € 30,000,000; of which € 15,000,000 comes from the EU in the form of a grant and € 15,000,000 being financed by the pharmaceutical company partners (EFPIA), in the form of in-kind or in-cash contributions to the project.
The project is supported by a scientific board, chaired by Prof Sanjiv Gambhir, Stanford, USA and an ethics board, chaired by Prof Michael Fuchs, Linz, Austria. These boards will advise the consortium on research strategies and ethical issues.
This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 831514. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA.
For additional information: www.immune-image.eu and www.imi.europa.eu
For further information, please contact:
ImaginAb
Ian Wilson, CEO
Salli Walker, External Partnership Manager
Email: info@imaginab.com
Phone: +1 310 645 1211
Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur, Charlotte Hepburn-Scott
Email: imaginab@optimumcomms.com
Phone: +44 20 3950 9144
About ImaginAb
ImaginAb, Inc. is an immuno-oncology imaging company focused on providing actionable insight into patient selection and treatment progress for cancer immunotherapy, enabling precision medicine. ImaginAb engineers antibody fragments called minibodies that maintain the exquisite specificity of full-length antibodies while remaining biologically inert in the body. Used with widely available PET scan technology, these novel minibodies illuminate high-value molecular targets, providing physicians with a whole-body picture of immune activity. ImaginAb is advancing a pipeline of minibodies against oncology and immunology targets, including the CD8 ImmunoPET targeting CD8 T cells. ImaginAb’s products have the potential to improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. The Company is backed by top tier venture capital firms and strategic corporate firms including The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Nextech Invest, Adage Capital, The Cycad Group, Merck (MSD) Pharma, Novartis Bioventures and Jim Pallotta of the Raptor Group.
For more information about ImaginAb’s pipeline and technology, visit www.imaginab.com.
