Cooperation with Medigene
Biontech plans to cooperate in cancer treatment
21/2/2022, 9:57 PM
Biontech is getting the expertise of another company to research cancer immunotherapies. Medigene introduces a new program to assist with planned TCR immunization. Massive sales shares and upfront temptation for it.
German biotech companies Biontech and Medigene want to work together on developing cancer immunotherapies. As part of the collaboration, Medigene will receive an advance payment of €26 million from Biontech, the two companies announced. Biontech, which is known for its Covid-19 vaccine, will pay for the research for the duration of the three-year collaboration. The company based in Mainz will also be responsible for global development and will have exclusive marketing rights for all treatments resulting from the collaboration.
Biontech acquires a new program for TCR immunotherapies from Medigene, which is still in preclinical development, as well as licenses the technologies from the company from Martinsried, near Munich.
The collaboration is expected to include multiple goals to develop TCR therapies that can be used to treat solid tumors. Medigene can expect outstanding payments associated with success of up to three figures of millions per program in addition to royalties on sales.
TCR therapies are among the cancer immunotherapies that aim to activate the body’s defense system in such a way that it can recognize and destroy cancer cells. In this treatment, doctors remove T cells from a patient’s immune system, genetically modify them so that they recognize cancer cells as hostile, and return them to the patient. Companies such as Bayer, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson are also looking into this area. Biontech has already solidified itself in this field last summer with its acquisition in the USA.
