the European investment Bank (EIB) and Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech) signed an agreement on the debt financing in the amount of 100 million euros to support the development BNT162, vaccines COVID-19. About it reports the European Commission.
the Deal will also allow the company to expand its production capacity to quickly deliver vaccines around the world in response to the pandemic. BioNTech became the first European company to start a clinical trial in Germany in April and in the United States in early may.
the Purpose of a vaccine is to stimulate the immune system to generate protective, long-lasting responses of antibodies and T cells against SARS-CoV-2 and prevent subsequent infections if exposed to the virus. mRNA-vaccines - is a powerful new class of vaccines for developing, with high versatility, and favorable safety characteristics. The company BioNTech were able to bring the first candidates for the vaccine from concept to clinical testing in less than three months.
Debt investments, the EIB will be paid in two tranches of 50 million euros each, after completion of predetermined stages.
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth, said:
"as part of our efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus, we strongly entered the world race, as quickly as possible to find effective and safe vaccine ... I am very glad that today, together with the European investment Bank, we are expanding our support for BioNTech, which is another concrete step toward our goal to obtain the vaccine and provide access for all."
In December 2019 BioNTech has already signed an agreement on venture debt in the amount of 50 million euros through the European Fund of financial growth for their individual programs of immunotherapy of cancer. The funding was part of the wider activities of the EIB in the field of life Sciences. About 50 European companies in the field of biological Sciences has received over the last four years a total of 1.3 billion euros supported by the European Fund for strategic investments.
