Sanofi, BioNTech in Exclusive Immunotherapy Alliance

Sanofi and BioNTech A.G. have entered into a multiyear exclusive collaboration and license agreement to discover and develop as many as five cancer immunotherapies, each consisting of a mixture of synthetic messenger RNAs (mRNAs).
 
BioNTech will receive $60 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments, and is eligible to receive more than $300 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones per product, as well as royalties on sales. Also, BioNTech has the option to co-develop and co-commercialize two of the five mRNA therapeutics products with Sanofi in the EU and U.S.
 
Leveraging Sanofi’s global oncology footprint and scientific expertise, BioNTech will combine the use of its mRNA technology platform to develop immune-stimulating pharmaceuticals. As part of this effort, BioNTech will utilize its mRNA formulation technology, which enables targeted mRNA delivery in vivo, to generate novel cancer immunotherapies. BioNTech will also supply part of the mRNA material needed for development activities from its GMP manufacturing unit.
 
“Immunotherapy has shown promise as an avenue to develop potentially curative treatments for people with cancer, and Sanofi has strategically launched a number of inter-company collaborations in this area in recent months,” said Elias Zerhouni, president, Global R&D at Sanofi. “Our collaboration with BioNTech has the potential to lay the foundation for a unique therapeutic modality in immuno-oncology.”  
 
“The collaboration with Sanofi is groundbreaking: through using our broad suite of mRNA technologies and extensive tumor immunology understanding, it will allow us to develop a completely new class of cancer immune-therapeutics with Sanofi, which we believe will have a profound and deep impact on the treatment of cancer,” said Ugur Sahin, chief executive officer of BioNTech. “This alliance is in line with our strategy to collaborate with companies that share our passion and drive to develop and commercialize truly innovative and disruptive immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.”