BioNTech will acquire a solid tumor neoantigen T cell receptor (TCR), R&D platform, and clinical manufacturing facility from Gilead's Kite, in a bid to straighten its cell therapy pipeline.
Kite’s neoantigen TCR platform enables the development of individualized TCR therapies that are custom designed to target individual neoantigens on a patient’s tumor. This program will build and further extend BioNTech’s leadership in individualized neoantigen targeting programs.
The acquired facility, located in Gaithersburg, MD, will provide production capacity to support clinical trials in the U.S. and will complement BioNTech’s existing cell therapy manufacturing facility in Idar-Oberstein, Germany.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the transaction, a one-time upfront payment, is expected to close by end of July 2021.
Read the press release