BioNTech US, Inc.

After 25 years of trying to lead biopharma’s mRNA revolution across infectious diseases and cancer, German biotech CureVac made the surprise announcement Thursday morning that it would exit to its rival and legal opponent BioNTech . The move, anticipated to close later this year, means CureVac will hand over its pipeline, people and operations to its main competitor even as litigation continues over its patented technology. “At some stage, we started talking, but there was no process. It developed organically,” CureVac CEO Alexander Zehnder said in an interview with Endpoints News on Thursday afternoon. “We came to, ‘Why don’t we make something together rather than fighting each other in court, right?'” Zehnder continued. “We saw a lot of complementary and different building blocks that we can bring to the table, some that they bring to the table. There’s very good chemistry always between the two companies, despite the litigation that we’re involved in.” A patent infringement hearing between CureVac and BioNTech/Pfizer had been set for July 1 in Germany and will still take place as the deal goes through customary regulatory approvals, Zehnder said. CureVac alleged that BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine infringed some of its mRNA intellectual property. A BioNTech spokesperson told Endpoints the company “generally” does “not comment on active litigation.” If the case ended in CureVac’s favor, there was a risk that BioNTech would have to dish out backdated royalties on the approximately $32 billion in global sales of the Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty, Leerink Partners analyst Daina Graybosch wrote in a note to clients. But the all-stock deal, valued at about $1.25 billion for CureVac, is “essentially an out-of-court settlement, in our view,” according to the analyst note. CureVac had cash runway until at least 2028, meaning it was able to do the deal from a position of financial strength, rather than inking an exit with its “back against the wall,” Zehnder said. The company’s valuation has cratered, though, in the years after the investor furor that took place during the pandemic. CureVac was valued at more than $9.8 billion in its first day of public trading in August 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 vaccine race. BioNTech CEO Uğur Şahin said in the deal announcement that the two companies have “complementary capabilities.” Zehnder also pointed to ways the companies’ technologies and pipelines could benefit from each other. “We see a lot of combination potential for our pipeline with not just their mRNA pipeline but their broader pipeline, whether it’s bispecifics with the PD-L1xVEGF and so on and so forth” in infectious diseases, Zehnder said. BioNTech has been building out its technology, pipeline and manufacturing footprint since 2020 via acquisitions, including deals with Biotheus, InstaDeep, PhagoMed Biopharma, Kite’s TCR platform and Neon Therapeutics, among others. CureVac has a clinical-stage glioblastoma immunotherapy and near-term trials slated for certain forms of non-small cell lung cancer and urinary tract infection. CureVac’s three central present-day R&D programs — in brain tumors, lung cancer and UTIs — are a small sliver of the broad ambitions CureVac had during its quarter-of-a-century life. Founded in 2000, the Tübingen-based biotech signed a sprawling set of deals over the years with pharma giants like Johnson & Johnson, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, GSK and others to create cancer vaccines and other mRNA-based products. It also linked up with large nonprofits and global organizations like the Gates Foundation, IAVI, CEPI and others to create mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases. Its profile, like that of its German peer BioNTech, skyrocketed in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The dawn of mRNA had arrived and both companies were on a mission to get a Covid-19 vaccine out to the world. In the end, BioNTech and its partner Pfizer would succeed. CureVac tried to as well. It rushed to meet the dire moment, forging multiple manufacturing partnerships, lining up deals with European governments and collaborating with GSK. It raised more than $600 million in private funding in the summer of 2020 and then landed a $213 million IPO that August. But CureVac would falter 11 months later in a pivotal trial of its candidate, blaming pandemic variants . Since then, it’s adjusted its priorities. CureVac sold infectious disease vaccine candidates to GSK and has downsized in the past year. It had 983 employees at the end of 2024, per its annual report, but has about 700 staffers today, Zehnder said. Most work in Germany, but CureVac also has employees in Belgium, the Netherlands and the US. “Will there be some synergies? For sure. But that was not a main driver for the deal and that will play out more, I would say ’27 and onwards, if at all. But of course, that’s at the discretion of BioNTech,” Zehnder said.

Garching / Munich, Germany, April 09, 2025 – ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM), a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company, today announced the election of Barbara Weber, M.D., to its Supervisory Board, effective May 01, 2025. The election occurred at ITM’s Extraordinary General Meeting. Dr. Weber is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Tango Therapeutics (Nasdaq: TNGX). She has over 25 years of executive and research and development leadership experience in biotech, venture capital and at major pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis (NYSE: NVS) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK). ITM’s Supervisory Board and the company overall will benefit from Dr. Weber’s deep expertise as it advances its lead Phase 3 candidate, n.c.a. 177Lu-edotreotide (ITM-11), and continues advancing its radiopharmaceutical pipeline and medical radioisotope manufacturing business. “Dr. Weber’s impressive track record in building transformative oncology biotech companies speaks volumes for her business acumen and her dedication to improving the lives of people living with cancer. Her profound industry and scientific knowledge, including her demonstrated ability to bring novel compounds through the clinic to FDA approval, will be an invaluable asset to ITM,” said Udo J. Vetter, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ITM. “The expansion of our Supervisory Board and its insights ensures that ITM is optimally positioned to continue accelerating the growth of its radiopharmaceutical pipeline and medical radioisotope business.” Dr. Weber is a physician-scientist with a distinguished clinical and academic career and extensive leadership expertise in global pharmaceutical development. As the President, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Tango Therapeutics, she led the company’s transition to being publicly listed and the development of its precision oncology product candidates based on the genetic principle of synthetic lethality. As a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures, she led teams in creating new oncology drug discovery companies, including Tango Therapeutics, Neon Therapeutics (acquired by BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX)) and Relay Therapeutics (Nasdaq: RLAY). “As a physician and business executive devoted to fighting cancer, I recognize the significant potential of targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy to improve the precision oncology treatment paradigm and outcomes for patients. I look forward to working with ITM’s Supervisory Board and Leadership Team as the company plans an NDA submission for ITM-11 and expands its pipeline with various promising alpha- and beta-emitting radioisotopes coupled with novel targeting agents,” said Dr. Weber. Prior to her tenure at Third Rock Ventures, Dr. Weber was Senior Vice President, Oncology Translational Medicine at Novartis and Vice President, Oncology Discovery and Translational Medicine at GlaxoSmithKline, where she was instrumental in leading clinical studies and obtaining FDA approvals for numerous drugs including Zykadia®, Kisqali®, Vijoice® and Promacta®. Dr. Weber received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Washington and has been affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She is a member of the Board of Directors at Tango Therapeutics, Revolution Medicines Inc. (Nasdaq: RVMD), Parabilis Medicines and Sesame Therapeutics. About ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SEITM, a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company, is dedicated to providing a new generation of radiopharmaceutical therapeutics and diagnostics for hard-to-treat tumors. We aim to meet the needs of cancer patients, clinicians and our partners through excellence in development, production and global supply. With improved patient benefit as the driving principle for all we do, ITM advances a broad precision oncology pipeline, including multiple Phase 3 studies, combining the company’s high-quality radioisotopes with a range of targeting molecules. By leveraging our two decades of pioneering radiopharma expertise, central industry position and established global network, ITM strives to provide patients with more effective targeted treatment to improve clinical outcome and quality of life. www.itm-radiopharma.com ITM ContactCorporate CommunicationsKathleen Noonan/Julia WestermeirPhone: +49 89 329 8986 1500Email: communications@itm-radiopharma.com Investor RelationsBen OrzelekPhone: +49 89 329 8986 1009Email: investors@itm-radiopharma.com Attachments 20250409_Barbara Weber, M.D., Elected to ITM Supervisory Board Barbara Weber, M.D., Elected to ITM Supervisory Board

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / May 14, 2024 / Vicore Pharma Holding (STO:VICO) Stockholm, May 14, 2024 - Vicore Pharma Holding AB, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company unlocking the potential of a new class of drug candidates, angiotensin II type 2 receptor agonists (ATRAGs), is pleased to announce the election of Hans Schikan, PharmD, as the new Chair of the Board of Directors as well as the election of two new Board members, Ann Barbier, MD, PhD and Yasir Al-Wakeel BM, BCh. Hans Schikan has been a member of the Board since 2018 and is a leader in rare disease drug development and strategy. He was previously CEO of Prosensa (Nasdaq: RNA), a company developing therapies for rare diseases including Duchenne muscular dystrophy acquired by BioMarin. He is also co-founder and Vice-Chair of Pharvaris (Nasdaq: PHVS), a clinical stage company developing therapies for the rare disease hereditary angioedema. Prior to Pharvaris and Prosensa, Hans Schikan was an executive at rare disease pioneer Genzyme. He also served on the boards of Wilson Therapeutics (Nasdaq Stockholm: WTX), acquired by Alexion, Therachon, acquired by Pfizer, and VectivBio (Nasdaq: VECT), acquired by Ironwood. "It has been a privilege to serve on the Vicore Board and I am pleased to be taking on an expanded role with the company," said Hans Schikan. "I am looking forward to leading the Board as the company seeks to drive transformational impact for patients suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and advance its leadership in angiotensin II pathway biology and drug discovery." Ann Barbier, MD, PhD, has more than 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development in rare diseases, including rare respiratory diseases She previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Translate Bio (Nasdaq: TBIO), a biotechnology company developing drugs for rare respiratory diseases acquired by Sanofi as well as Chief Medical Officer at CAMP4 Therapeutics. "Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a huge unmet medical need and the data generated by the Vicore team to date reflect disease modifying potential for patients who have limited options today," said Ann Barbier. "I am proud to join Vicore's effort to impact this disease and look forward to serving on the Board as the company advances to Phase 2b development of buloxibutid." Yasir Al-Wakeel is a leader in biotech strategic finance and business development. He is currently the CEO of a private biotech company and member of the Maxcyte (Nasdaq: MXCT) board. Yasir Al-Wakeel was previously the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Kronos Bio (Nasdaq: KRON), Chief Financial and Strategy Officer at Neon Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NTGN), acquired by BioNTech, and Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: MACK), leading its 1 billion USD asset sale to Ipsen. "Vicore's potential therapy for IPF is incredibly promising and I am excited to join the Vicore Board as the company seeks to expand its global footprint as it advances to late-stage development of buloxibutid," said Yasir Al-Wakeel. "I am looking forward to leveraging my experience in both strategic finance and corporate development during this important time for the company." This information was submitted for publication on May 14, 2024, at 08:00 CET. About Vicore Pharma Holding AB (publ) Vicore is an innovative clinical-stage pharmaceutical company unlocking the potential of a new class of drugs with disease-modifying potential. The company is establishing a portfolio in respiratory diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Buloxibutid (C21) is a first-in-class orally available small molecule angiotensin II type 2 receptor agonist (ATRAG) currently in phase 2a development for IPF. Almee™ (an investigational medical device in clinical development) is a digital therapeutic based on cognitive behavioral therapy created to address the psychological impact of living with pulmonary fibrosis. Almee has received Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA, reflecting its potential to have transformative impact. Using its unique expertise in ATRAG chemistry and biology, Vicore is further fueling its pipeline with several new therapies across additional potential indications. The company's shares (VICO) are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm's main market. For more information, see . Attachments Vicore Expands and Strengthens its Board of Directors SOURCE: Vicore Pharma Holding View the original press release on accesswire.com