-- More than 450 million doses of BNT162b2 supplied to 91 countries or territories worldwide as of May 6, 2021 -- Signed agreements for over 1.8 billion doses of BNT162b2 in 2021 and first contracts signed for periods 2022 and beyond -- Announced planned expansion of global footprint to Asia with establishment of first regional headquarters for south east Asia in Singapore, including a fully-integrated and state-of-the art mRNA manufacturing facility -- In oncology, a first-in-human Phase 1 trial started for the neoantigen-targeting T cell therapy, BNT221. The development of BioNTech's oncology pipeline has continued to accelerate with 14 product candidates now in 15 ongoing trials Conference call and webcast scheduled for May 10, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. ET (2:00 p.m. CET) MAINZ, GERMANY, May 10, 2021 -- https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=339oF-40rE4PUzxq1IUYi8JpS5oJbNY8ITxGX7DEDO8n2KZ7tV8UxV5nBzbS0xYdW4-_2OLoz7xuhzZz4UBy_g== BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX, "BioNTech" or "the Company") a next generation immunotherapy company pioneering novel therapies for cancer and infectious diseases, today provided an update on its corporate progress and reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. "BioNTech has continued to execute the delivery of our COVID-19 vaccine globally to more than 90 countries and territories. Through our continued innovation, we are expanding access to new populations and geographies, and addressing emerging variants," said Ugur Sahin, BioNTech's Co-founder and CEO. "We are moving into later stage testing for three of our oncology programs in the near future and plan to launch multiple new products over the next five years. Looking ahead, we will further optimize our technologies and expand our pipeline into additional therapeutic indications, as we meet our ambition to become a global, fully-integrated immunotherapy company." First quarter 2021 and subsequent updates Infectious disease COVID-19 vaccine program -- BNT162b2 In March 2021, BioNTech announced its Full Year 2020 Financial Results and Corporate Update as a part of the Annual Report filed on Form 20-F, highlighting developments relating to its COVID-19 vaccine program between January 1 and March 30, 2021 ( https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=crWGMA_fQHvIZf8sokcj-bnV1FtiRamsL0tatmES0sAiQl5zrz3vHw-zJutI2uJQJo45IumcyG1xXvM9Jmu2ovupmGlmRJwIirpzhK2K1_OaoSNDHGs4aQU4xN69evjUg6OtqLSzsDeh11e3V38Mp774-X88UvOgQRkNTHXAw41JIIqJaL1SB3pRFFcxWE_d3MgyH4llAKKfC9WzevcY8DinQnIn10ZZTlaZwOVEOxM= Link to press release). A summary of these developments as well as full details of subsequent developments that occurred after March 30, 2021 is provided below. As of May 6, 2021 BioNTech and Pfizer have shipped approximately 450 million doses of BNT162b2 to 91 countries and territories around the world. To date, the companies have signed orders of approximately 1.8 billion doses for delivery in 2021, and they have also signed the first contracts for 2022 and beyond. Further discussions for additional dose commitments are ongoing for 2021 and beyond. BioNTech expects BNT162b2 annual manufacturing capacity to reach 3 billion doses by the end of 2021, and expects to have capacity to manufacture more than 3 billion doses in 2022. Multiple clinical trials are ongoing to expand the authorization of BNT162b2 to additional population groups, such as children from 6 months to 11 years of age, and to collect further data in healthy pregnant women. To date, there is no evidence that an adaptation of BioNTech's current COVID-19 vaccine against key identified emerging variants is necessary. Despite this, BioNTech has developed a comprehensive strategy to address these variants should the need arise in the future. As part of BioNTech's strategy to contend with the variant challenge, BioNTech submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the FDA has approved an additional amendment to the study protocol of the global Phase 1/2/3 trial which includes: (1) an assessment of the impact of a third dose of BNT162b2 in prolonging immunity against COVID-19 and in protecting against COVID-19 caused by potential newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, and (2) an assessment of a modified, variant-specific version of BNT162b2. The aim of this study is to explore the regulatory pathway that BioNTech and Pfizer would pursue if SARS-CoV-2 were to change enough to require an updated vaccine. This trial started in March 2021. In the first quarter of 2021, BioNTech also advanced its work to broaden access through improvements to its cold chain distribution systems and processes. Both the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have approved the transportation and storage of undiluted frozen vials of BNT162b2 at temperatures (-20degC) commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers for a period of up to two weeks. Further stability data have been assessed and formulation optimization activities are ongoing, including a study to evaluate a lyophilized (or freeze-dried) and a ready-to-use formulation of BNT162b2. BNT162b2 clinical development updates -- On March 31, 2021, BioNTech and Pfizer announced that BNT162b2 demonstrated 100% efficacy and robust antibody responses in a Phase 3 trial in adolescents aged 12 to 15 with or without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The trial enrolled 2,260 adolescents in the United States. In the trial, 18 cases of COVID-19 were observed in the placebo group (n=1,129) versus none in the vaccinated group (n=1,131). Vaccination with BNT162b2 elicited high SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers, demonstrating strong immunogenicity in a subset of adolescents one month after the second dose. BNT162b2 administration was generally well tolerated. -- On March 31, 2021, BioNTech and Pfizer began evaluating the administration of a single booster dose five to seven months after receiving the second dose of BNT162b2. To demonstrate duration of protection, and protection against the emerging variants of concern, an additional dose of BNT162b2 or of BNT162b2SA (encoding for the spike protein of the variant B.1.351) is being given to about 600 Phase 3 participants. About 30 participants that received BNT162b2SA will be given another dose of BNT162b2SA. A new cohort of approximately 300 participants will be enrolled who are COVID-19 vaccine-naïve (i.e., including BNT162b2-naïve) and have not been infected with COVID-19. They will receive BNT162b2SA given as a two-dose series, separated by 21 days. The objective of this Phase 1/2/3 protocol amendment is to describe the safety and tolerability profile of BNT162b2SA, to evaluate its non-inferiority compared to BNT162b2, and to analyze the immune response generated by BNT162b2SA. By evaluating BNT162b2SA as a prototype vaccine, the companies aim to inform the development of an efficient regulatory pathway for testing future modified mRNA vaccines, using the current pathways for flu vaccines as models (blueprint study). -- On April 1, 2021, BioNTech and Pfizer announced updated topline results confirming high efficacy and no serious safety concerns through up to six months following the second dose. Topline efficacy was based on an analysis of 927 confirmed symptomatic cases of COVID-19 observed in the pivotal Phase 3 study through March 13, 2021. BNT162b2 was 91.3% effective against COVID-19, measured seven days through up to six months after the second dose. The vaccine was also 100% effective against severe disease, as that term is defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 95.3% effective against severe COVID-19 as that term is defined by the FDA. Safety data collected from more than 12,000 vaccinated participants who had a follow-up time of at least six months after the second dose demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile. In an additional exploratory analysis of 800 trial participants enrolled in South Africa, where the B.1.351 lineage is prevalent, nine cases of COVID-19 were observed, all in the placebo group, indicating vaccine efficacy of 100%. Of these cases, eight were of the B.1.351 lineage, confirming efficacy against B.1.351 virus. These data support previous results from immunogenicity studies demonstrating that BNT162b2 induced a robust neutralizing antibody response to the B1.351 variant, and although lower than to the wild-type strain, it does not appear to affect the observed high efficacy against COVID-19 caused by this variant, as published in the New England Journal of Medicine.(2) -- On April 1, 2021, BioNTech and Pfizer started a Phase 3, randomized, observer-blind study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of multiple formulations of BNT162b2, administered on a two-dose (separated by 21 days) schedule in adults aged 18 to 55. Part 1 of the study is comparing the safety and tolerability of lyophilized (or freeze-dried) BNT162b2 to the current frozen-liquid formulation of BNT162b2 and is evaluating non-inferiority of the immune response. Part 2 of the study will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a ready-to-use formulation of BNT162b2, and will be initiated in May 2021. The study, which is being conducted in the United States, will enroll approximately 610 participants. BioNTech and Pfizer expect to obtain results from both study parts in the third quarter of 2021. Regulatory updates -- On April 9, 2021, BioNTech and Pfizer requested amendments to the U.S. Emergency Use Authorization to expand the use of BNT162b2 to adolescents aged 12 to 15.
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