BioNTech teams up with Genentech

Mainz-based BioNTech AG announced that it would enter into a worldwide strategic collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. The partners plan to focus on the development of individually tailored messenger RNA (mRNA) cancer vaccines against a broad range of cancers. The immunotherapies will be developed on the basis of BioNTech’s Individualised Vaccines Against Cancer (IVAC) Mutanome clinical platform. By targeting a tumour’s unique genetic mutations, the mRNA vaccine may trigger an immune response highly specific to the tumour resulting in precisely targeted cancer cell death. 

Genentech will pay BioNTech US$310m (€278m) in upfront and near-term milestone payments. The partners will equally share all development costs and any potential profits for certain programmes under the agreement. “Combining BioNTech’s broad proprietary capabilities in the design, formulation, manufacturing and clinical testing of individualized neoantigen-based mRNA vaccines with Genentech’s eminent cancer immunotherapy, diagnostic, manufacturing and commercial expertise, will allow us, on a global scale, to drive forward the development of individualised vaccines to the market to treat a broad range of cancers,” commented Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech. 

James Sabry, Senior VP and Global Head of Genentech Partnering added: “Unlike any medicine we have ever developed, virtually all cancer patients may potentially benefit from a custom built cancer vaccine. By collaborating with BioNTech on this cutting edge approach, we hope to truly advance cancer treatments by using a common molecular backbone – mRNA – that is uniquely tailored to an individual patient.”