Mainz, Germany, 12th January 2016: BioNTech AG, a fully integrated biotechnology company developing innovative cancer immunotherapies, today announced that further to the co-development and commercialization agreement with Genmab signed in May 2015, BioNTech has triggered two milestone payments to be paid by Genmab to BioNTech.
Under the terms of the agreement BioNTech is providing proprietary immunomodulatory antibodies and onco-immunotherapy expertise to be combined with Genmab’s innovative DuoBody® technology platform. The joint approach will allow the generation of superior bispecific antibodies that specifically stimulate the immune system against cancer. BioNTech’s research has identified unique and proprietary properties related to a number of distinct immunomodulatory antibodies that form part of the collaboration, triggering the two milestone payments.
Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech, said: “We are pleased to be making rapid progress in our collaboration with Genmab to generate novel bispecific antibodies with unique immunomodulatory biology for the treatment of cancer. This is an important demonstration of BioNTech’s ability to successfully collaborate and move disruptive immunotherapies forward with partners such as Genmab that are committed to true innovation for the benefit of cancer patients.”
