12 July 2019 - - Germany-based biotechnology company BioNTech SE has closed a USD 325m series B financing round, making it one of the largest single private funding rounds for a biotechnology company in European history, the company said.
The fund raising was upsized and was led by Fidelity Management and 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.
The funding follows the series A financing of USD 270m 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 individualised neoantigen specific immunotherapies and to expand its antibody platform, most recently, through the acquisition of a Phase I/IIa programme 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.
BioNTech was founded in 2008 on the understanding that every cancer patient's tumor is unique and therefore each patient's treatment should be individualised.
Its 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 and Research company, Invus, Janus Henderson Investors, MIG Fonds, Redmile Group, Salvia and several European family offices.