Sanofi and BioNTech sign cancer immunotherapy partnership
BioNTech could receive more than US$300m in development, regulatory and commercial milestones
Sanofi and BioNTech have signed a collaboration and license agreement to discover and develop up to five cancer immunotherapies, each consisting of a mixture of synthetic messenger RNAs (mRNAs).
Mainz, Germany-based BioNTech will receive up to US$60m in upfront and near-term milestone payments and could receive more than $300m in development, regulatory and commercial milestones and other payments per product.
BioNTech would also be eligible for tiered royalties on net sales up to double digits if the treatments re successfully brought to market.
In addition, BioNTech has the option to co-develop and co-commercialise two of the five mRNA therapeutics products with Sanofi in the EU and the US.
'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.'