Key Highlights

  • The ARC awarded Monash University A$652,248 over three years under its Linkage Projects scheme.
  • The project will investigate LAG-3 and its interaction with MHC Class II.
  • The role of IMP761, an agonist LAG-3 antibody, will be assessed.
  • Neither the ARC funding nor Immutep's contribution is material to the company.

Immutep Limited (ASX:IMM; NASDAQ:IMMP) announced on 14 October 2026 that the Australian Research Council has awarded Monash University a grant of A$652,248 over three years under the ARC Linkage Projects scheme. The grant supports continuing research collaboration between Monash and Immutep into Lymphocyte Activation Gene-3, known as LAG-3. Immutep is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune disease.

The grant

The ARC Linkage Projects scheme is described as highly competitive and supports collaborations between Australian researchers and industry partners. The three-year project is titled A structural investigation into Lymphocyte activation gene-3 and will be led at Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute. Immutep will provide expertise and access to LAG-3-specific constructs, reagents and antibodies, and will make a financial contribution through its existing research budget. The announcement states that neither the ARC funding nor Immutep's contribution is material to the company.

Research scope

The new project builds on an earlier collaboration that produced the first crystal structure of the human LAG-3 and MHC Class II complex, published in Science Immunology in December 2024. The structure gave the first detailed view of how LAG-3 engages its main ligand and a framework for understanding how LAG-3 regulates immune responses. The new work will study how LAG-3 regulates immune responses, including its interactions with MHC Class II, its role in the immunological synapse after the T-cell receptor meets an antigenic peptide and the effect on signalling between immune cells. The role of IMP761, an agonist LAG-3 antibody, will be assessed in terms of ligand binding, changes within the immunological synapse and functional outcome, using structural biology, cellular immunology and advanced imaging.

History of the collaboration

The collaboration has been supported by ARC Linkage Projects grants since 2017. The announcement describes the aim as generating new insights into mechanisms that control immune regulation and providing a foundation for future therapeutic applications targeting LAG-3.

Risks shareholders should weigh

The funding supports basic and structural research, not a clinical trial, and the release does not report clinical data, regulatory milestones or revenue. The grant is small against a clinical-stage biotechnology company's overall activities, and the company itself states it is not material. Therapeutic applications are described as potential future outcomes. Clinical-stage companies also face development risk, regulatory risk and funding needs, which this announcement does not address.

What to watch next

Items to follow include the start of the Monash project, any published findings on LAG-3 and IMP761, and separate clinical or corporate updates from Immutep that are not covered by this release.

Looking ahead

Immutep has announced a continuation of its research partnership with Monash University, backed by an ARC grant that the company describes as not material to its finances.