BioNTech Commit to UK Life Science Sector in New Partnership
The UK Government has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BioNTech for the development and trialling of cancer immunotherapies, in a great boost to the UK's Life Sciences credentials.
The MoU focuses on:
- the development of cancer immunotherapies using BioNTech's underlying mRNA technology
- the development of infectious disease vaccines
- expanding BioNTech's UK presence
Candidate cancer and infectious disease treatments in BioNtech's pipeline will be fast tracked through clinical trials, with an ambitious goal being set of being ready to enrol the first cancer patients in the second half of 2023 and treatment of 10,000 cancer patients by 2030.
Considerations in BioNTech choosing the UK to partner with for this new venture include the broad clinical trial network present and the wealth of genomic and health data that the UK Life Sciences sector enjoys.
Most notable, though, was the comment made by BioNTech's CEO and Co-Founder, Ugur Sahin, on signing the MoU:
"The UK successfully delivered COVID-19 vaccines so quickly because the National Health Service, academia, the regulator and the private sector worked together in an exemplary way. This agreement is a result of the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic as we all experience that drug development can be accelerated without cutting corners if everyone works seamlessly together towards the same goal. Today's agreement shows that we are committed to do the same for cancer patients."
From this, it is clear that it is not just the talent and established industry which will attract global pharma to the UK, but also the collaborative and pragmatic culture of the UK, that facilitates the fast yet safe development and access to life saving treatments.
In a further development this month, BioNTech has announced its acquisition of InstaDeep Ltd, a UK technology company with expertise in decision-making AI. Having already worked together since 2019, this acquisition will give BioNTech the opportunity to develop and integrate AI more deeply into their service offering. With the abundance of riches that is the UK's healthcare databases, this provides an unparalleled environment to develop and harmonise this next phase of personalised medicines.
Hear More About the Outlook for the Life Sciences Environment in the UK
At the 2020 PING Conference, we heard about Britain's great life sciences future for personalised medicines, genomics and AI. In 2021, leading players from the MHRA, Pfizer, Oxford University and others at the PING Conference discussed the unique UK environment that has led to the development and roll-out of vaccines at warp speed. And in the 2022 Conference, further speakers including the Science Minister and NICE's Chief Executive looked at how this was really a Golden Age for life sciences innovation. This latest announcement is a further example of that.
There are various challenges currently for life sciences in a post-pandemic and Brexit world, which we will explore at the 2023 PING Conference, but this decision from BioNTech is a ringing endorsement for the UK to be the place to be.