Pfizer and BioNTech announce further information on partnership to speed up global development of COVID-19 vaccines

Pfizer and BioNTech announce further information on partnership to speed up global development of COVID-19 vaccines

Pfizer and BioNTech announce further information on partnership to speed up global development of COVID-19 vaccines

On 10 April 2020, BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX, 'BioNTech' or 'the Company') and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) disclosed additional details of their collaboration to advance BioNTech mRNA vaccine candidates, previously announced on 17 March 2020.

The collaboration aims to rapidly advance multiple candidates for the COVID-19 vaccine into human clinical testing based on BioNTech's patented mRNA vaccine platforms, with the objective of ensuring immediate, if approved, worldwide access to the vaccine. The collaboration will exploit the extensive expertise of Pfizer in the fields of vaccine research and development, regulatory capabilities and the global manufacturing and distribution network.

The two companies plan to initially perform clinical trials across several sites for the COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the USA and Europe. BioNTech and Pfizer intend to initiate the first clinical trials, assuming regulatory approval, as early as the end of April 2020.

BioNTech and its partners will provide clinical supplies of the vaccine from their GMP-certified mRNA manufacturing facilities in Europe during the clinical development stage. In response to the pandemic, BioNTech and Pfizer must work together to ramp up manufacturing capacity at risk to provide worldwide supply. BioNTech and Pfizer will also work together to market the vaccine worldwide (excluding China, which is already protected by the partnership between BioNTech and Fosun Pharma) upon regulatory approval.

 

"Fighting the COVID-19 pandemic will require unprecedented cooperation all over the innovation ecosystem, bringing together companies to pool resources like never before," said Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development & Medical, Pfizer. I am proud of Pfizer's collaborative work with BioNTech and have every faith in our ability-together-to harness the power of science to deliver a pontential vaccine that the world needs as quickly as possible."

 

BioNTech co-founder and CEO Ugur Sahin, M.D. They said they have already started working with Pfizer on our COVID-19 vaccine and are pleased to share these further details of our ongoing collaboration, which indicates the deep commitment of both organizations to move quickly towards providing patients with a safe and efficient vaccine worldwide.

Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will pay $185 million in upfront payments to BioNTech, including $72 million in cash and $113 million in equity investments. For a possible cumulative consideration of $748 million, BioNTech is liable for additional milestone payments of up to $563 million. Pfizer and BioNTech bear the costs of production in equal measure. Initially, Pfizer will cover 100 % of the development costs and BioNTech will reimburse Pfizer for its 50% share of these costs during the commercialization of the vaccine.