Million deal with US companies
Biontech secures new cancer drug
03/20/2023, 2:18 p.m
Biontech is speeding up the expansion of its immunotherapies. The Mainz-based company only acquired a British start-up in January, and now the next million-dollar deal is to follow with a US cancer specialist. An exclusive license is intended to significantly advance research into cancer drugs.
Biotech company Biontech is strengthening its pipeline of cancer drugs with a multi-million dollar deal with US cancer specialist OncoC4. Together, the two companies want to develop and market a new antibody for the treatment of various solid tumors, as Biontech announced.
OncoC4 granted the company an exclusive worldwide license for the ONC-392 antibody. The US company will receive an upfront payment of 200 million dollars for this, as well as further success-related milestone payments and license fees. For Biontech, which generated billions in revenue with its corona vaccine developed jointly with Pfizer, it is the second-biggest deal to date after the takeover of British startup Instadeep announced in January. For this acquisition, Biontech is initially putting around 362 million pounds in cash on the table, and the Instadeep owners can also look forward to additional milestone payments of up to around 200 million pounds.
The ONC-392 antibody has received Fast Track Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration – intended to facilitate new drug development and accelerate testing – as a monotherapy for immunotherapy-resistant non-small cell lung cancer and is also being investigated as a combination therapy in ovarian cancer .
A clinical study of the decisive phase 3 with the drug is to start before the end of this year. “We believe this antibody is a valuable addition to our immuno-oncology portfolio, both as a monotherapy and in combination with our personalized immunotherapies,” said Biontech CEO Ugur Sahin.