Foundation (2008–2014)
BioNTech was founded in 2008 based on research by Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci,[8] and Christoph Huber,[9] with a seed investment of €180 million[10] from MIG Capital, a Munich-based venture capital firm, the family office of Andreas and Thomas Strüngmann, and the present chairman of the supervisory board, Helmut Jeggle.[11][12][13] In 2009, the acquisition of EUFETS and JPT Peptide Technologies took place.[14][15] The company's origins lie in research conducted by Şahin, Türeci, and their teams, who over several decades made progress in addressing challenges using messenger RNA (mRNA) as a therapeutic. Their aim was to utilize mRNA for the development of individualized cancer immunotherapies. They focused on overcoming issues such as mRNA's limited stability in the body, developing formulations to effectively deliver mRNA to target cells, and improving protein production, which was initially low and short-lived.[16][4] In 2013, Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó, who later shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,[17] joined BioNTech as a senior vice president. She later stayed an external advisor.[18] Karikó discovered that modifying the nucleotide uridine could reduce the immunogenicity of mRNA, making it more suitable for therapeutic use.[19] All of these scientific discoveries were utilized in BioNTech's mRNA-based drug development.[18]
Expansion, Series A financing (2015–2018)
Between 2014 and 2018, research results on mRNA mechanisms were published by BioNTech.[20] Collaborations and commercialization agreements were concluded with various companies and scientific institutions starting in 2015.[21] In January 2018, BioNTech closed a US$270 million Series A financing round to further expand the company's immunotherapy research.[22] In August 2018, the company entered into a multi-year research and development (R&D) collaboration with the US company Pfizer, Inc. to develop mRNA-based vaccines for prevention of influenza. Under the terms of the agreement, following BioNTech's completion of a first-in-human clinical study, Pfizer would assume sole responsibility for further clinical development and commercialization of mRNA-based flu vaccines.[23]
Series B financing and Nasdaq IPO (2019)
In July 2019, Fidelity Management & Research Company led a Series B investment round totalling US$325 million, with investments from new and existing investors, including Redmile Group, Invus, Mirae Asset Financial Group, Platinum Asset Management, Jebsen Capital, Steam Athena Capital, BVCF Management and the Strüngmann family office.[24][25] In September 2019, BioNTech received a contribution of US$55 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[26] In December 2019, BioNTech received a €50 million loan to finance the development of its patient-specific immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, from the European Investment Bank (EIB) as part of the European Commission Investment Plan for Europe.[27]
COVID-19 (since 2020)
BioNTech initiated "Project Lightspeed" in January 2020 to develop an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, just days after the SARS-Cov-2 genetic sequence was first made public.[30] In March 2020, BioNTech partnered with Fosun Pharma for mainland China and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and Pfizer for the rest of the world, excluding Germany and Turkey, where BioNTech retained exclusive rights.[31] Clinical trials began in April 2020 across multiple regions.[32] Due to the global situation caused by the pandemic and the need for a vaccine, BioNTech received financial support from the European Investment Bank (a €100 million loan in June 2020)[33][34][35]
Oncology and international expansion (since 2021)
Alongside ongoing development of COVID-19 vaccines, BioNTech expanded its oncology pipeline and drug manufacturing capabilities,[44][45] leading to an increasing number of trials in advanced clinical phases.[45][46][47][48] The company has formed strategic collaborations and acquisitions to enhance its platform technologies, global manufacturing capacity, and computational drug discovery capabilities.[49][50]
