BioNTech and Autolus Therapeutics Enter Strategic Collaboration

By Najat Kantouar

BioNTech has announced a $200 million investment in Autolus Therapeutics as part of a strategic collaboration. The partnership aims to advance both companies' autologous CAR-T cell therapy programs and expand their late-stage programs towards commercialization.

In this private placement deal, BioNTech will purchase Autolus's American depositary shares, and in return, Autolus Therapeutics will grant BioNTech the right to appoint a director to its board.

BioNTech Co-Founder and CEO, Ugur Sahin, expressed his excitement regarding the collaboration and stated, "The collaboration with Autolus enables us to expand our BNT211 program into trials for multiple cancer indications in a cost-efficient way. It grants us access to Autolus' precise cell targeting tools to further support BioNTech's development of in vivo cell therapy and antibody-drug conjugate candidates."

Autolus CEO, Christian Itin, also shared his enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating, "We see a remarkable opportunity to leverage our core capabilities, accelerate pipeline programs, realize cost-efficiencies, and expand opportunities beyond autologous cell therapies."

This strategic collaboration promises exciting advancements in the field of cell therapies and brings together the expertise of BioNTech and Autolus Therapeutics.