BioNTech raised USD 325 million in an upsized Series B financing to further advance their individualized immuno-oncology pipeline. Duff & Phelps acted as financial advisor to BioNTech during this financing.
BioNTech SE, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on patient-specific immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, announced the completion of a USD 325 million Series B financing round, making it one of the largest single private funding rounds for a biotechnology company in European history. The fund raising was upsized and was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company with participation from both new and existing investors, including Redmile Group, Invus, MiraeAsset Financial Group, Platinum Asset Management, Jebsen Capital, Steam Athena Capital, BVCF Management and the Struengmann Family Office. Two-thirds of the funding came from new investors. The proceeds of the financing will support the continued advancement of BioNTech’s therapeutics pipeline and manufacturing infrastructure.
“BioNTech has executed on a highly disruptive business strategy that aims to change the treatment paradigm for cancer patients,” said Helmut Jeggle, Chairman of BioNTech. “We value the continued participation of our existing investors and welcome new investors to this powerful global syndicate representing North America, Asia and Europe.”
Prof. Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech added: “This financing round is a significant milestone that recognizes our scientific and initial clinical track record to date. With our ongoing focus on bringing together transformative technologies, it is exciting to have the support from high-technology investors who see the accelerating convergence of biology with bioinformatics, robotics and artificial intelligence as an opportunity to develop more precise, efficacious and cost-effective individualized immunotherapies.” The funding follows the Series A financing of USD 270 million announced in January 2018, led by Redmile Group. The previous financings have enabled BioNTech to advance a pipeline of seven product candidates in eight ongoing clinical trials, to establish a second GMP manufacturing license for production of its individualized neoantigen specific immunotherapies and to expand its antibody platform, most recently, through the acquisition of a Phase I/IIa program against pancreatic cancer from MabVax Therapeutics Inc. In conjunction with the MabVax Therapeutics acquisition of assets, the company has also recently established its US research and development facility in San Diego, California.
About BioNTech
BioNTech was founded in 2008 on the understanding that every cancer patient’s tumor is unique and therefore each patient’s treatment should be individualized. Its cutting-edge pipeline includes individualized mRNA-based product candidates, innovative chimeric antigen receptor T cells, novel checkpoint immunomodulators, targeted cancer antibodies and small molecules. BioNTech’s product development approach has been validated by seven collaborations with, in chronological order, Eli Lilly and Company, Genmab, Sanofi, Bayer Animal Health, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Genevant and Pfizer, and its scientific approach through over 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications. BioNTech’s shareholders include the Struengmann Family Office as its majority shareholder, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Invus, Janus Henderson Investors, MIG Fonds, Redmile Group, Salvia and several European family offices. For more information, please see: www.biontech.de
