- Acquisition to enable creation of a fully integrated,
enterprise-wide capability to discover, design and develop
next-generation immunotherapies at scale by leveraging artificial
intelligence and machine learning technologies across BioNTech’s
therapeutic platforms and operations
- Builds on multi-year strategic collaboration between BioNTech
and InstaDeep which included the formation of an AI Innovation Lab
in 2020 and completion of dozens of joint projects
- Acquisition expected to add approximately 240 highly skilled
professionals and a global network of research partners in the
fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning and data
science based in the world’s leading global technology hubs
- BioNTech to pay an upfront consideration of approximately £362
million in cash and BioNTech shares, to acquire 100% of remaining
InstaDeep shares following BioNTech’s Series B investment in
2022
- InstaDeep to operate globally from London headquarters as a
BioNTech company post-closing, which is expected in the first half
of 2023, subject to regulatory approval
MAINZ, Germany, and LONDON, United Kingdom,
January 10, 2023 – BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX, “BioNTech”)
and InstaDeep Ltd. (“InstaDeep”) today announced that they
have entered into an agreement under which BioNTech will acquire
InstaDeep, a leading global technology company in the field of
artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning (“ML”). The
transaction includes a total upfront consideration of approximately
£362 million in cash and BioNTech shares to acquire 100% of the
remaining InstaDeep shares, excluding the shares already owned by
BioNTech. In addition, InstaDeep shareholders will be eligible to
receive additional performance-based future milestone payments up
to approximately £200 million. The transaction follows BioNTech’s
initial equity investment as part of InstaDeep’s Series B financing
round in January 2022.
The acquisition supports BioNTech’s strategy to
build world-leading capabilities in AI-driven drug discovery and
development of next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines to
address diseases with high unmet medical need. The transaction will
combine two organizations with a common culture and is expected to
add approximately 240 highly skilled professionals to BioNTech’s
workforce, including teams in AI, ML, bioengineering, data science,
and software development. Through the acquisition, BioNTech will
grow its network of global research collaborators in the field and
expand its footprint in key talent hubs across the United States,
Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
With the acquisition of InstaDeep, validated and
novel BioNTech-trained AI- and ML-based models are planned to be
embedded across BioNTech’s discovery platforms and connected,
through InstaDeep’s DeepChain™ platform, to an integrated automated
lab infrastructure. This has the objective to enable
high-throughput design and testing of novel drug candidates at
scale. In addition, BioNTech plans to develop novel AI and ML
technology solutions which it aims to apply across key strategic
and operational functions.
The acquisition builds on a successful track
record of increasing collaboration between the two companies since
2019: In November 2020, the companies announced a multi-year
strategic collaboration and joint AI Innovation Lab to apply the
latest advances in AI and ML technology to develop novel medicines
for a range of cancers and infectious diseases. The companies have
jointly developed multiple end-to-end AI-based applications trained
on public and proprietary datasets across a wide variety of
scientific domains. These include projects to enhance neoantigen
selection, ribological sequence optimization for BioNTech’s
RiboCytokine® and RiboMab® platforms as well as the development of
an Early Warning System to detect and monitor high risk SARS-CoV-2
variants, based on their ability to escape immune defenses and
transmissibility potential, defined as fitness, which was announced
in January 2022.
“Since the inception of BioNTech, we have
focused on leveraging computational solutions to create
personalized immunotherapies that can reach a wide patient
population,” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-founder of
BioNTech. “The acquisition of InstaDeep allows us to
incorporate the rapidly evolving AI capabilities of the digital
world into our technologies, research, drug discovery,
manufacturing, and deployment processes. Our aim is to make
BioNTech a technology company where AI is seamlessly integrated
into all aspects of our work.”
BioNTech recognized the growing importance of AI
and ML capabilities early on. For example, the fully individualized
neoantigen specific immunotherapy approach (“iNeST”1) is based on
mRNA encoding multiple patient-specific neoepitopes. For the first
patients treated with an individualized vaccine in clinical trials
starting 2014, BioNTech selected the neoepitopes manually. It
invested early in developing ML-trained algorithms to improve the
prediction of neoepitopes with initial results published in Nature
in 2017. These algorithms have been further enhanced in
collaboration with InstaDeep.
“AI is progressing exponentially and our mission
at InstaDeep has always been to make sure it benefits everyone. We
are very excited to join forces and become one team with BioNTech,
with whom we share the same culture of deep tech innovation and
focus on positive human impact,” said Karim Beguir, CEO and
Co-Founder of InstaDeep. “Together, we envision building a
world leader that combines biopharmaceutical research and AI with
the aim to design next-generation immunotherapies that enhance
medical care – thus, helping fight cancer and other diseases.”
The transaction is expected to close in the
first half of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and
regulatory approvals. Upon closing, InstaDeep will operate as a
UK-based global subsidiary of BioNTech. InstaDeep is expected to
become the centerpiece of a growing portfolio of initiatives around
AI and ML at BioNTech. In addition to BioNTech-focused projects,
InstaDeep will continue to provide its services to clients around
the world in diverse industries, including in the Technology,
Transport & Logistics, Industrial, and Financial Services
sectors.
About BioNTechBiopharmaceutical New
Technologies is a next generation immunotherapy company pioneering
novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. BioNTech
exploits a wide array of computational discovery and therapeutic
drug platforms for the rapid development of novel
biopharmaceuticals. Its broad portfolio of oncology product
candidates includes individualized and off-the-shelf mRNA-based
therapies, innovative chimeric antigen receptor T cells, bispecific
immune checkpoint modulators, targeted cancer antibodies and small
molecules. Based on its deep expertise in mRNA vaccine development
and in-house manufacturing capabilities, BioNTech and its
collaborators are developing multiple mRNA vaccine candidates for a
range of infectious diseases alongside its diverse oncology
pipeline. BioNTech has established a broad set of relationships
with multiple global pharmaceutical collaborators, including
Genmab, Sanofi, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Regeneron,
Genevant, Fosun Pharma, and Pfizer. For more information, please
visit www.BioNTech.com.
BioNTech Forward-Looking StatementsThis
press release contains “forward-looking statements” of BioNTech
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, but may not
be limited to, statements concerning: the expected impact of this
proposed acquisition on BioNTech’s and InstaDeep’s business; the
timing of the closing of the proposed acquisition; the creation of
long-term value for BioNTech and InstaDeep shareholders; potential
synergies between BioNTech and InstaDeep and their businesses; the
ability of the DeepChain™ protein design platform to engineer new
mRNA sequences for protein targets; the ability of the SARS-CoV-2
Early Warning System to predict potential high-risk variants; the
ability of AI and ML to advance drug discovery and development of
new drug classes; the ability of AI and ML to quicken and scale up
the delivery of next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics;
the ability of ML and edge analytics to identify novel predictive
biomarkers, inform patient selection, and accelerate the
development of therapeutic programs; the ability to utilize AI and
ML applications to further optimize manufacturing and supply chain
processes, including by using robotics and autonomous
decision-making; and BioNTech’s efforts to combat COVID-19. Any
forward-looking statements in this press release are based on
BioNTech current expectations and beliefs of future events, and are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set
forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks
and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the possibility
that the proposed transaction may not close, the reaction to the
proposed transaction of InstaDeep’s business partners, the reaction
of competitors to the proposed transaction, the retention of
InstaDeep employees, BioNTech’s plans for InstaDeep, the future
growth of InstaDeep’s and BioNTech’s businesses and the possibility
that integration following the proposed transaction may be more
difficult than expected; the risk that InstaDeep’s collaborations
will not continue or will not be successful; risks related to
InstaDeep’s ability to protect and maintain InstaDeep’s
intellectual property position; risks related to InstaDeep’s
capital requirements, use of capital and unexpected expenditures,
including InstaDeep’s ability to manage operating expenses or
obtain funding to support planned business activities or to explore
and establish strategic alternative transactions; risks related to
InstaDeep’s ability to attract and retain personnel; and the
ability of AI and ML to produce improvements in the drug discovery
and development process or deliver efficiencies in drug
manufacturing, logistics and supply chain.
For a discussion of these and other risks and
uncertainties, see BioNTech’s Quarterly Report on Form 6-K for the
quarter ended September 30, 2022, filed with the SEC on November 7,
2022, which is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. All
information in this press release is as of the date of the release,
and BioNTech undertakes no duty to update this information unless
required by law.
About InstaDeep
InstaDeep is a leader in decision-making AI
systems with headquarters in London, and offices in Paris, Tunis,
Lagos, Dubai, Cape Town, Berlin, Boston and San Francisco.
InstaDeep was founded in 2014 in North Africa and has been named
for three consecutive years to CB Insights’ influential AI 100
ranking, which showcases the 100 most innovative private artificial
intelligence companies in the world. It was also named in 2022 as
one of Europe’s 100 most promising B2B companies by the Financial
Times-backed media site Sifted. With expertise in both machine
intelligence research and concrete business deployments, InstaDeep
gives its partners a competitive advantage in an AI-first world.
Leveraging its extensive know-how in GPU-accelerated computing,
deep learning and reinforcement learning, InstaDeep products, such
as its DeepChainTM protein design platform, tackle the most
complex challenges across a range of industries. InstaDeep has also
developed collaborations with global leaders in the AI ecosystem,
such as Nvidia and Google Cloud and has published joint research
with DeepMind.
CONTACTS
BioNTech:
Media RelationsJasmina Alatovic+49 (0)6131 9084
1513Media@biontech.de
Investor RelationsSylke Maas, Ph.D.+49 (0)6131 9084
1074Investors@biontech.de
InstaDeep:
Media Relations Liz Johns +44 (0)797 005 7603
l.johns@instadeep.com
D'Arcy Doran+44(0)758 591 3302d.doran@instadeep.com
----
1 Program for personalized cancer vaccines initiated by BioNTech
in 2012; in collaboration with Genentech (a member of Roche Group)
since 2016.
BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024