BioNTech bank has a strong R&D engine
BioNTech is a beacon among the much-battered German biotechnology cohort. Founded with venture capital in 2008, the company sits on a massive cash pile (€17.7bn as of the end of Q1 24) after a very profitable period over 2020-23.
The company had a much better start than other European, especially German, biotech companies. The founders of BioNTech, Professors Sahin and Türeci, had successfully founded and run the biotech Ganymed Pharmaceuticals (Mainz, Germany) in 2001. Fifteen years later, the biotech was sold to Japanese Astellas for USD1.4bn.
When BioNTech was founded, investors lined up to be part of the journey, hoping for high returns. Thus, cash has never been a serious cause for concern. The founders understood that a single technology has strengths, but also limitations, and they decided to establish all the necessary and latest technologies (mRNA, cell & gene therapies) in the company to stay up-to-date.
Luck is the pinch of salt needed to make a fortune
BioNTech's plans were to develop personalised cancer treatments based on an individual’s genetic profile. This explains why the company has enrolled so many technology platforms, as the spectrum needed to follow the immunological pathway is vast. If things had gone according to plan, the biotech would have needed some additional financing rounds.
But then came SARS-CoV-2 and, in its wake, the pandemic, which disrupted everyone’s life.
In early January 2020, BioNTech started Operation Lightspeed, sprinting from an idea to an approved COVID-19 vaccine in just twelve months. This is an unbelievably short period of time to develop a vaccine, as the average development duration from phase I to approval takes 9.7 years in infectious diseases or 10.4 years in respiratory. The likelihood for approval (success rate) for the development of a vaccine from phase I through all development steps is below 10% (9.7%). Only every tenth vaccine development is a success.
However, the management made a lot of correct decisions, one of which was to partner with US pharma giant Pfizer. The BioNTech / Pfizer team won the race to vaccination before their largest competitor, US mRNA pure play Moderna.
While governments threw buckets of money at biotech and pharma for vaccine development, the party continued after the approval for the lucky winners BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna. All three made a fortune with prophylactic COVID-19 vaccines. Fun fact: the address of the company’s headquarters (An der Goldgrube) was a harbinger of the coming bonanza.
R&D gains traction for the 2030 goal
While the top line declines in the coming years, R&D spending is going to increase as the clinical candidates progress to more costly clinical phases. The management guided for +40% higher R&D costs of ~€2.5bn (midpoint), which comes from the broad and diversified immune-oncology pipeline running 31 clinical trials (phase I: 7; phase I/II: 13; phase II: 9; phase III: 2) based on the five technology platforms (mRNA, cell therapy, immune oncology; antibody drug conjugates, small molecules). The pipeline includes partnered candidates. The most advanced candidate, BNT316/ONC-392 (gotistobart), was sourced from OncoC4, which is an antibody in the development for treating a version of non-small lung cancer.
Add to this the infectious diseases pipeline, of which Comirnaty in the version against the current dominating COVID-19 variant, is the sales generator dampening the cash burn.
BioNTech aims to have 10+ phase III trials by end 2024 and plans for yearly oncology launches from 2026 onwards. The goal is to have ten approvals in oncology by 2030.
Interestingly, the company has this goal in its own hands thanks to its tremendous cash pile. Well spent, it finances numerous drug candidates to a potential successful approval. There are no money troubles like at other biotech companies.
Interested in knowing more information and next steps for your stock investments? Contact us at sales@alphavalue.eu
The company had a much better start than other European, especially German, biotech companies. The founders of BioNTech, Professors Sahin and Türeci, had successfully founded and run the biotech Ganymed Pharmaceuticals (Mainz, Germany) in 2001. Fifteen years later, the biotech was sold to Japanese Astellas for USD1.4bn.
When BioNTech was founded, investors lined up to be part of the journey, hoping for high returns. Thus, cash has never been a serious cause for concern. The founders understood that a single technology has strengths, but also limitations, and they decided to establish all the necessary and latest technologies (mRNA, cell & gene therapies) in the company to stay up-to-date.
Luck is the pinch of salt needed to make a fortune
BioNTech's plans were to develop personalised cancer treatments based on an individual’s genetic profile. This explains why the company has enrolled so many technology platforms, as the spectrum needed to follow the immunological pathway is vast. If things had gone according to plan, the biotech would have needed some additional financing rounds.
But then came SARS-CoV-2 and, in its wake, the pandemic, which disrupted everyone’s life.
In early January 2020, BioNTech started Operation Lightspeed, sprinting from an idea to an approved COVID-19 vaccine in just twelve months. This is an unbelievably short period of time to develop a vaccine, as the average development duration from phase I to approval takes 9.7 years in infectious diseases or 10.4 years in respiratory. The likelihood for approval (success rate) for the development of a vaccine from phase I through all development steps is below 10% (9.7%). Only every tenth vaccine development is a success.
However, the management made a lot of correct decisions, one of which was to partner with US pharma giant Pfizer. The BioNTech / Pfizer team won the race to vaccination before their largest competitor, US mRNA pure play Moderna.
While governments threw buckets of money at biotech and pharma for vaccine development, the party continued after the approval for the lucky winners BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna. All three made a fortune with prophylactic COVID-19 vaccines. Fun fact: the address of the company’s headquarters (An der Goldgrube) was a harbinger of the coming bonanza.
R&D gains traction for the 2030 goal
While the top line declines in the coming years, R&D spending is going to increase as the clinical candidates progress to more costly clinical phases. The management guided for +40% higher R&D costs of ~€2.5bn (midpoint), which comes from the broad and diversified immune-oncology pipeline running 31 clinical trials (phase I: 7; phase I/II: 13; phase II: 9; phase III: 2) based on the five technology platforms (mRNA, cell therapy, immune oncology; antibody drug conjugates, small molecules). The pipeline includes partnered candidates. The most advanced candidate, BNT316/ONC-392 (gotistobart), was sourced from OncoC4, which is an antibody in the development for treating a version of non-small lung cancer.
Add to this the infectious diseases pipeline, of which Comirnaty in the version against the current dominating COVID-19 variant, is the sales generator dampening the cash burn.
BioNTech aims to have 10+ phase III trials by end 2024 and plans for yearly oncology launches from 2026 onwards. The goal is to have ten approvals in oncology by 2030.
Interestingly, the company has this goal in its own hands thanks to its tremendous cash pile. Well spent, it finances numerous drug candidates to a potential successful approval. There are no money troubles like at other biotech companies.
Interested in knowing more information and next steps for your stock investments? Contact us at sales@alphavalue.eu
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