BioNTech won fame and fortune for its pioneering Covid-19 vaccine. Now the German biotech has achieved promising early-stage results in treating pancreatic cancer. Beating this virulent and intractable disease is a holy grail for cancer scientists. After several false dawns, therapeutic cancer vaccines could be heading for prime time.
It is no coincidence that BioNTech aims to combat cancer, as well as viruses. Its lab-synthesised messenger RNA carries the genetic information needed to make proteins. Those molecules can train immune systems to attack disease-causing agents — whether cancer cells or infectious viruses. In the case of BioNTech’s pancreatic cancer treatment, a vaccine is tailored to the specific mutations in the patient’s tumour.
The trial results showed that half the patients remained cancer-free 18 months after surgery and vaccination. Though the trial only involved 16 patients, it offers rare encouragement to pancreatic cancer sufferers. This is one of the most lethal forms of cancer. Just 11 per cent of patients survive longer than five years, according to the American Cancer Society.
The results are a boost for Roche’s Genentech. In 2016, it agreed to pay BioNTech a hefty $310mn to collaborate on its cancer programme. Sceptics doubted whether therapeutic cancer vaccines could ever rival prophylactic cancer jabs, such as those against cervical and liver cancers.
BioNTech is now a sought-after partner. As well as Genentech, it has teamed up with Genmab, Sanofi, Regeneron, Genevant, Fosun Pharma and Pfizer, its partner on the Covid vaccine. Such collaborations are a way for Big Pharma to benefit from innovation. That trend was reinforced by the pandemic when nimble biotechs outpaced in-house teams.
Big companies such as Sanofi and Pfizer are now intent on amassing the expertise and infrastructure to become leading players in mRNA technology. Revenues from mRNA medicines could reach $23bn in 2035, with prophylactic and therapeutic cancer vaccines comprising 50 and 30 per cent of sales respectively, according to Boston Consulting Group.
If mRNA extends its record of success from Covid to cancer, expect more large pharma companies to pursue a role in its development.