BioNTech has announced that it will be expanding its messenger RNA (mRNA) capabilities by acquiring CureVac for approximately $1.25bn.
The deal is aimed at strengthening BioNTech’s research, development, manufacturing and commercialisation of its investigational mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies, the company said.
mRNA is a single-stranded molecule that instructs cells to make a protein, or part of a protein, using the body’s natural machinery. The potential of the approach was brought to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic, with mRNA vaccines being used globally to protect against the virus.
BioNTech said the acquisition “marks the next milestone” in the execution of its oncology strategy, which centres around two pan-tumour programmes, mRNA-based cancer immunotherapy candidates, and PD-L1xVEGF-A bispecific antibody candidate BNT327.
Ugur Sahin, BioNTech’s chief executive officer and co-founder, described the transaction as “another building block in BioNTech’s oncology strategy and an investment in the future of cancer medicine”.
He continued: “We intend to bring together complementary capabilities and leverage technologies with the goal of advancing the development of innovative and transformative cancer treatments and establishing new standards of care for various types of cancer in the coming years.”
Under the terms of the agreement, which is expected to close this year, each CureVac share will be exchanged for around $5.46 in BioNTech American depositary shares. Once complete, CureVac shareholders are expected to own between 4% and 6% of BioNTech.
Alexander Zehnder, chief executive officer of CureVac, added that the deal “represents a shared commitment to leverage the full potential of mRNA as a disruptive technology to develop transformative therapies with greater scale and speed”.
The acquisition comes less than two weeks after BioNTech entered into an agreement worth over $11bn to jointly develop and commercialise BNT327 with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS).
The candidate is currently being evaluated in multiple clinical trials, including phase 3 studies in first-line stage small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. A late-stage trial in first-line triple negative breast cancer is also expected to begin by the end of this year.
“Our collaboration with BMS… aims to accelerate and broadly expand BNT327’s development to fully realise its potential,” Sahin said at the time of the announcement.