Immatics completes largest private round in Germany since 2001

Immatics GmbH raised Euros 40 million in a second round of funding, the largest private biotech financing round in Germany since 2001. The Tuebingen-based company specialises in the development of peptide-based cancer immunotherapeutics.

The lead investor was Dietmar Hopp, founder of the enterprise software company SAP AG, who is becoming a prominent force in biotech investing in Germany. Hopp invested through DH Capital GmbH & Co. KG and OH Beteiligungen GmbH & Co. KG. The other investors were the existing consortium under the co-lead of Wellington Partners and 3i plc. They were joined by National Technology Enterprises Company and KfW as new co-investors.

In early 2004, Immatics concluded one of the largest first rounds for a German biotech raising over Euros14 million.

“This new funding will not only enable us to pursue two parallel Phase II clinical studies on our two most highly developed product candidates, but will also allow us to further expand our pipeline,” said Harpreet Singh, Immatics’ chief scientific officer and co-founder.

The portfolio currently consists of a therapeutic vaccine IMA901 for the treatment of renal cell cancer, which has completed Phase I. IMA910 for the treatment of colorectal cancer is scheduled to follow it into the clinic this year.  

Immatics’ product candidates are based upon tumor-associated peptides, (TUMAPs), which stimulate the immune system to act against cancer cells. The company’s technology can also be used to quickly identify and validate further new candidates.

Erich Schlick, General Partner at Wellington Partners said, “This round of financing demonstrates the rapidly growing importance of immunotherapeutic vaccines in oncology.”

The funding will allow Immatics to conclude the two Phase II studies and prepare further candidates for the clinic.

Immatics was formed in 2000 as a spin-off from the Institute of Immunology at the University of Tübingen, and currently employs 40 people.

Over the past few years, Dietmar Hopp, co-founder, former chief executive officer and chairman of the supervisory board of SAP, has been investing heavily in life sciences, In addition to a focus on cancer, central nervous system diseases, cardiovascular disease and information-based medicine, he has a  regional focus, with more than half of the companies in which he is invested headquartered in and around Heidelberg.

Hopp is usually the largest single shareholder of investee companies. Current investments including AC Immune S.A.; Apogenix GmbH; Cosmo S.p.A.; Curacyte AG; Curevac GmbH; Cytonet GmbH; Febit GmbH; GPC Biotech AG; Heidelberg Pharma AG; Joimax GmbH; Life Bio- 80 systems AG; Novalig GmbH; Sygnis Pharma AG; and Wilex AG.