Research is currently making great strides in the fight against cancer.
(Photo: Weisflog)
Frankfurt The two German biotech companies Biontech and Medigene want to work together on the development of cancer immunotherapies. As part of the cooperation, Medigene will receive an upfront payment of 26 million euros from Biontech, as the two companies announced on Monday evening.
Biontech, known for its Covid-19 vaccine, will also reimburse research costs for the duration of the three-year collaboration. The Mainz-based company will also be responsible for global development and will have exclusive marketing rights for all therapies resulting from the collaboration.
Biontech is taking over a novel program for TCR immunotherapies from Medigene, which is still in preclinical development, as well as licenses to technologies from the company from Martinsried near Munich. The collaboration is expected to include multiple targets for the development of TCR therapies that could be used to treat solid tumors. Medigene can expect success-related milestone payments of up to three-digit millions per program as well as 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 therapy, doctors remove T cells from the immune system from the patient, genetically modify them so that they recognize the cancer cells as hostile, and give them back to the patient.
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Companies such as Bayer, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson are also researching in this area. Biontech had already strengthened itself in this area last summer with an acquisition in the USA.
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