Primarily focused on developing individualized cancer therapy, BioNTech is a biotechnology company located in Mainz, Germany.
Their method revolves around several platforms in medicine; mRNA Therapeutics, engineered cell therapies, antibodies, and small molecule immunomodulators. Coupled with their approach to patient specific needs, they have seen success in providing unique treatments.
- Sequencing patient's tumor
- Mapping of mutations
- Bioinformatic algorithms
- Selection of neoepitopes
BNT162 is BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine program aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection. It is the first product candidate from Project Lightspeed and leverages BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA platforms for infectious diseases, its fully-owned GMP manufacturing infrastructure for mRNA vaccine production, and its global clinical development capabilities, drawing on BioNTech’s network of global collaborators. BioNTech is partnered with Pfizer for co-development and distribution of BNT162 and with Fosun Pharma on the vaccine development in China.
Timeline
The European Commission approved a fourth contract with pharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Pfizer, which provides for the initial purchase of 200 million doses on behalf of all EU Member States, plus an option to request up to a further 100 million doses, to be supplied once a vaccine has proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19. Member States can decide to donate the vaccine to lower and middle-income countries or to re-direct it to other European countries.