Medigene AG, an immuno-oncology platform company focused on the discovery and development of differentiated T cell immunotherapies for solid tumors, and BioNTech SE have announced that their collaboration to advance T cell receptor (TCR) immunotherapies against cancer will extend beyond the initial three-year term outlined at the signing of the agreement in February 2022.
 
In February 2022, Medigene and BioNTech entered into a global multi-target collaboration to discover and develop T cell receptor immunotherapies against multiple cancer targets including PRAME (PReferentially expressed Antigen in MElanoma). The agreement also included non-exclusive licenses to some of the proprietary technologies contained in Medigene’s End-to-End Platform including its PD1-41BB costimulatory switch protein.
 
This extension will enable ongoing and future work required to potentially generate novel TCRs directed against multiple newly nominated antigen targets that could further expand the BioNTech warehouse of TCR candidates.
 
“We are pleased about the extension of our partnership with BioNTech aiming at the development of highly differentiated TCR-based therapies for patients suffering from solid tumors. The collaboration solidifies our position as a leader in the field of TCR generation while we continue to deliver very promising TCR candidates,” said Dr. Selwyn Ho, Chief Executive Officer at Medigene. “The ongoing work between our scientific teams reflects the strength of our partnership in the fight against cancer, and we look forward to making further progress in making a difference in the lives of cancer patients.”