Pfizer, BioNTech Team Up to Advance COVID-19 Vaccine Development

Pfizer and BioNTech recently disclosed additional details on their COVID-19 vaccine development plans through BioNTech’s and mRNA vaccine program.

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Under the additional terms of agreement, Pfizer will pay BioNTech $185 million in upfront payments, including a cash payment of $72 million and an equity investment of $113 million. 

Pfizer and BioNTech will share development costs equally. Initially, Pfizer will fund 100 percent of the development costs and BioNTech will repay Pfizer its 50 percent share of these costs during the commercialization of the vaccine, the announcement stated.

“We have already started working with Pfizer on our COVID-19 vaccine and are pleased to announce these further details of our ongoing collaboration, which reflects both companies’ strong commitment to move quickly to bring a safe and efficacious vaccine to patients worldwide,” said Ugur Sahin, MD, co-founder and CEO of BioNTech.

On March 17, the pharmaceutical companies announced that they signed a letter of intent to co-develop and distribute potential coronavirus vaccines. The collaboration aimed to accelerate the development of BioNTech’s vaccine program, BNT162, which is expected to enter clinical testing by the end of this month. 

The partnership intends to build on the collaboration that both companies entered in 2018, leveraging Pfizer’s expertise in vaccine research and development, regulatory capabilities, and global manufacturing and distribution network.

The initial announcement highlighted that the companies will utilize research and development sites from both companies, including in the US and Germany. 

Mikael Dolsten, chief scientific officer and president of Pfizer stated that pairing Pfizer’s development, regulatory, and commercial capabilities with BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine technology furthers efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. 

During the clinical development stage, BioNTech and its partners will provide the clinical supply of the vaccine from its GMP-certified mRNA manufacturing facilities in Europe. The collaboration will work to commercialize the vaccine worldwide upon regulatory approval. 

“Combatting the COVID-19 pandemic will require unprecedented collaboration across the innovation ecosystem, with companies coming together to unite capabilities like never before,” Dolsten said.

“I am proud of Pfizer’s collaboration with BioNTech and have every confidence in our ability to harness the power of science – together – to bring forth a potential vaccine that the world needs as quickly as possible.” 

Recently, the Pfizer Foundation announced the commitment of $40 million in medical and charitable cash grants to help combat the global health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The commitment will address the vital needs of partners actively working to slow the spread of the virus within communities. Pfizer will also donate critical medicines and vaccines, as well as provide medical and charitable grants to support domestic and global responses, the major pharmaceutical company stated.

Pfizer noted that it also provided more than $1 million in grant funding to its partners including Direct Relief, Project HOPE, and International Medical Corps. These funds will go to supporting access to necessary supplies for frontline healthcare workers and to aiding global recovery efforts.

An additional $5 million grant in funding will support educational research proposals that improve the recognition, diagnosis, treatment, and overall management of COVID-19 patients through its Global Medical Grants program. 

“We are in the midst of a global health crisis and understand the need for immediate and significant philanthropic and private sector contributions to help sustain local and global partners on the front lines of the pandemic response, with the goal of saving lives,” Caroline Roan, president of The Pfizer Foundation and vice president of global health & patient access of Pfizer, said in the announcement. 

“At Pfizer, we believe it is our responsibility to help protect the most vulnerable from the disease and are putting the full weight of our resources behind our comprehensive COVID-19 response.”