Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) has secured a research and development (R&D) tax refund from the Australian Government’s R&D tax incentive scheme, netting $A12.6 million in funding that would have otherwise been lost to taxes.
The R&D tax incentive scheme offers companies engaging in eligible activities with a refundable tax offset of up to 43.5%.
It’s designed to encourage investment in R&D to help companies grow and innovate, which generates knock-on benefits for the Australian economy.
Imugene says the refund will enable further clinical development of its immune-oncology pipeline.
Imugene’s research pipeline
Imugene is advancing three separate clinical pipelines: onCARlytics, CF33 Oncolytic Virus and B Cell Immunotherapy.
Imugene is collaborating with Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ALA) to combine ALA’s CAR19-iNKT cell therapy (ALA-101) and IMU’s onCARlytics therapy (CF33-CD19).
The companies have achieved positive results showing that the combination of ALA-101 and CF33-CD19 kills solid tumour cells in vitro.
The company also recently fielded promising imaging data for the CHECKvacc Oncolytic Virus, confirming safety and tolerability while also indicating the cancer-targeting virus is able to replicate within injected lesions.
Finally, IMU in February secured a US patent for its B-cell activating immunotherapy PD1-Vaxx which is in clinical development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.
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