BioNTech has agreed to buy another specialist in mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, fellow German biotech CureVac, in an all-stock deal valued at around $1.25 billion.

德国生物新技术公司（BioNTech）已同意以全股票交易方式，斥资约12.5亿美元收购另一家专注于mRNA疫苗和治疗的德国生物技术公司CureVac。

Under the terms of the deal, each

根据协议条款，每个

CureVac

CureVac

share will be exchanged for approximately $5.46 in BioNTech American depositary shares, which

每股将换取约5.46美元的BioNTech美国存托股份，

BioNTech

生物新科技公司

said was a 55% premium to CureVac's average share price in the three months to 11th June.

所述价格较 CureVac 截至 6 月 11 日的三个月平均股价溢价 55%。

CureVac's Nasdaq shares had risen by around a third (32%) at the time of writing to $5.35. The company was in the race to develop mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines with BioNTech and Moderna at the time of the pandemic, but has broadened its focus since then and – like its acquirer – has built a position in immunotherapies for cancer..

CureVac的纳斯达克股价在撰写本文时已上涨约三分之一（32%），至5.35美元。该公司在疫情期间曾与BioNTech和Moderna竞争开发基于mRNA的新冠疫苗，但此后拓宽了研究重点，并且像其收购方一样，在癌症免疫疗法领域建立了地位。

BioNTech said in a statement that combining the two businesses would allow it to strengthen its 'research, development, manufacturing, and commercialisation of investigational mRNA-based cancer immunotherapy.'

BioNTech在一份声明中表示，将这两项业务结合起来将能够加强其“基于信使核糖核酸的癌症免疫疗法的研究、开发、生产和商业化”。

CureVac's lead oncology programme is CVGBM for aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma, an off-the-shelf drug which is scheduled to start phase 2 trials in the latter half of this year, followed by a squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) candidate codenamed CVHNLC that is due to start human testing in the coming months..

CureVac的主要肿瘤学项目是针对侵袭性脑癌胶质母细胞瘤的CVGBM，这是一种计划在今年下半年开始二期试验的现成药物，随后是一个代号为CVHNLC的鳞状非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）候选药物，预计将在未来几个月内开始人体试验。

It is also planning to start trials next year of a personalised cancer immunotherapy based on the specific antigens found on the surface of patients' tumours, as well as a prophylactic vaccine for bacterial urinary tract infections (UTIs).

它还计划明年开始针对患者肿瘤表面特定抗原的个性化癌症免疫疗法试验，以及预防细菌性尿路感染（UTIs）的疫苗试验。

BioNTech's cancer pipeline, meanwhile, consists of individualised therapies for colorectal, bladder, and pancreatic cancers, mRNA-based immunotherapies for melanoma, head and neck cancer, and NSCLC, and BNT327 – mostly in midstage clinical development – as well as a

同时，BioNTech的癌症研发管线包括针对结直肠癌、膀胱癌和胰腺癌的个体化疗法，基于mRNA的黑色素瘤、头颈癌和非小细胞肺癌免疫疗法，以及大多处于中期临床开发阶段的BNT327。

PD-L1xVEGF bispecific antibody

PD-L1xVEGF双特异性抗体

candidate that it just licensed to Bristol Myers Squibb for $1.5 billion upfront.

候选药物刚刚以15亿美元的预付款授权给了百时美施贵宝。

That deal will no doubt have emboldened BioNTech to look for its own business development transactions, although it already had a strong cash position after ending the last financial year with nearly €16 billion in cash reserves. Meanwhile, oncology has likely risen even higher in priority for the company in the face of a changing and increasingly challenging regulatory .

这笔交易无疑增强了BioNTech寻求自身业务发展交易的信心，尽管该公司在上一财年结束时已有近160亿欧元的现金储备，财务状况十分强劲。与此同时，面对不断变化且日益严峻的监管环境，肿瘤学可能已经成为公司更高的优先事项。

environment

环境

for infectious disease vaccines in the big US market.

针对美国大市场的传染病疫苗。

'This transaction is another building block in BioNTech's oncology strategy and an investment in the future of cancer medicine,' said Prof Uğur Şahin, the company's co-founder and chief executive.

“这笔交易是BioNTech肿瘤学战略的另一块基石，也是对癌症医学未来的一项投资，”该公司联合创始人兼首席执行官乌尔·萨欣教授表示。

'We intend to bring together complementary capabilities and leverage technologies with the goal of advancing the development of innovative and transformative cancer treatments and establishing new standards of care for various types of cancer in the coming years.'

“我们打算汇集互补的能力，利用技术，目标是推进创新和变革性癌症治疗方法的开发，并在未来几年为各类癌症建立新的治疗标准。”

The takeover has been unanimously approved by both BioNTech's and CureVac's boards and is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to the usual financial and antitrust reviews.

该收购已获得BioNTech和CureVac董事会的一致批准，预计将在年底前完成，但需接受常规的财务和反垄断审查。