BioNTech will get CureVac’s early-stage cancer assets, including its mRNA-based glioblastoma therapy currently in Phase I development. CureVac had previously sued BioNTech for copyright infringement related to mRNA vaccine technology.
BioNTech will acquire its COVID-19 competitor CureVac in an all-stock deal valued at $1.25 billion, the company announced on Thursday.
The agreement puts a hefty premium on CureVac. At $5.46 per share, BioNTech’s offer is 55% higher than CureVac’s three-month volume weighted average share price of around $3.53 as of June 11, according to Thursday’s release. CureVac—which sued BioNTech in July 2022, claiming that its work on mRNA technology contributed to the latter’s COVID-19 vaccine, amounting to patent infringement—surged 30% before the opening bell.
“BioNTech’s announced acquisition of CureVac in an all-stock deal appears a natural tuck-in to broader portfolio, ending litigation concerns,” BMO Capital Markets analysts wrote in a note to investors Thursday morning. After a slow start to the year, such tuck-in deals are picking up and analysts have predicted more transactions of this variety.
Despite both companies being famous for their work in making COVID-19 vaccines, Thursday’s acquisition agreement is focused on cancer. The transaction, which BioNTech expects to close within the year, will deliver CureVac’s pipeline of, among other things, early mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies, including its most mature program CVGBM, which is being trialed for resected glioblastoma.
“CureVac’s flexible and scalable mRNA manufacturing system benefits BioNTech’s growth plans in mRNA therapeutics,” BMO said.
The deal will also give BioNTech CureVac’s preclinical oncology assets, including off-the-shelf and personalized cancer vaccines and a squamous non-small cell lung cancer program.
Among other closing requirements, such as regulatory and antitrust clearances, at least 80% of CureVac’s shares have to be tendered in order for the transaction to proceed. Several shareholders, affiliates and board members, representing more than one-third of CureVac stock, have supported the acquisition and have tendered their shares. Once closed, CureVac will operate as a fully-owned subsidiary of BioNTech.
Of note, if Thursday’s acquisition agreement pushes through, BioNTech plans to “effectuate a corporate reorganization of CureVac and its subsidiaries.” It is not yet clear whether this move, which BioNTech called a “corporate reorganization” in the Thursday release, will involve layoffs and site closures.
“This transaction aims at combining complementary scientific capabilities, proprietary technologies, and manufacturing expertise in the mRNA field under one roof,” CureVac CEO Alexander Zehnder said in a prepared statement.
For BioNTech, the CureVac acquisition “marks the next milestone in the execution of its oncology strategy,” as per the Thursday release. The company specifically highlighted its own PD-L1xVEGF-A bispecific antibody, BNT327, which in recent months has shown strong clinical promise—and picked up a powerhouse partner.
In December 2024, BioNTech posted Phase Ib/II data for the assets, demonstrating a 73.8% confirmed overall response rate at around 18 months of follow-up in patients with locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Disease control rate was 95.2%. In March, the biotech again released mid-stage results for BNT327, this time in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, touting an 85.4% response rate and 97.9% disease control rate.
Earlier this month, Bristol Myers Squibb paid $1.5 billion upfront—and pledged $2 billion in non-contingent anniversary payments through 2028 and up to $7.6 billion in milestones—to co-develop and co-commercialize BNT327. The partners will split profits and losses 50/50, as per the arrangement.
