The European Investment Bank (EIB) and immunotherapy company BioNTech SE today signed a €100 million financing agreement to support the development of BNT162, the company’s COVID-19 vaccine programme.
BioNTech is the first European company to enter clinical testing, having started a clinical trial in Germany in April and a further clinical trial in the United States at the beginning of May. The EIB financing is backed by both Horizon2020 InnovFin and the European Fund for Strategic Investments.
The deal will also fund the expansion of the company’s manufacturing capacity.
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “As part of our efforts to counter the spread of the coronavirus we have embarked decisively on the worldwide race to find an effective and safe vaccine as quickly as possible.
For this purpose we recently launched the Coronavirus Global Response initiative, while at the same time we mobilised significant funding through Horizon 2020 for research projects aimed at developing a prophylactic and a therapeutic vaccine.
I am very pleased that today, together with the European Investment Bank, we are extending our support to BioNTech, which is yet another concrete step towards our goal of getting a vaccine and ensuring access to it for all.”
Johannes Bahrke –