(FRANKFURT) German laboratory BioEntech, which developed one of the innovative vaccines against Covid-19, will conduct clinical trials in Great Britain of a cancer treatment based on the same messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. , the company announced Friday.
The goal is to treat 10,000 patients with personalized mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies by 2030, BioEntech says in a statement.
The business says the project is part of a deal with the UK government that includes “anti-cancer therapies, infectious disease vaccines and expanding BioNTech’s presence in the UK”.
The German lab, one of the pioneers in mRNA development, will open a new research and development center of around 70 people in Cambridge and set up a regional headquarters in London.
“Our goal is to accelerate the development of immunotherapies and vaccines using technologies we have been researching for more than 20 years,” BioNTech CEO and co-founder Ugur Sahin said in the statement.
The company, which established itself on the international stage by inventing one of the first vaccines against Covid-19 developed by American Pfizer, is developing new vaccines and treatments especially for cancer, malaria, shingles and tuberculosis.
“This agreement means cancer patients will have early access to trials investigating personalized messenger RNA therapies,” the UK Department of Health said in a separate statement.
The amount of investment linked to this partnership was not disclosed.
The first phase, described by the British Ministry of Health, will identify “large numbers” of cancer patients who will be eligible for trials and explore potential vaccines for “multiple types of cancer”.
Trials could begin in fall 2023.
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