A transatlantic leader in individualized neoantigen-targeted T cell therapies
Based in Cambridge, MA, BioNTech US serves as BioNTech’s North American headquarters and is an important part of our global effort to pioneer the development of next-generation immuno-oncology therapies. BioNTech US is a fully integrated subsidiary with a strong foundation in Europe and a focus on the development of novel neoantigen-targeted T cell therapies, complementing BioNTech’s highly innovative scientific approach and diversified pipeline of transformative cancer medicines. As a key research and clinical development hub, BioNTech US will enable BioNTech’s growing presence in the US.
Our origins – grounded in science
BioNTech US originated as Neon Therapeutics, which was acquired by BioNTech SE in 2020 to combine neoantigen expertise in the field of cancer medicine and immunology by leveraging the highly complementary capabilities and resources of the two companies. Neon was founded in 2015 by well-renowned scientific leaders, including a Nobel prize winner, with deep insights into the development of neoantigen therapies, focused on both vaccine and T cell capabilities. The merger of the two companies allowed BioNTech to acquire Neon’s adoptive cell therapy process NEO-STIM for personalized T cell therapy and PRECISION NEO-STIM for shared neoantigen products and to further continue building its capabilities in the T cell receptor area and establish a stronger presence in engineered T cell therapies.
The NEO-STIM process has been developed and optimized to prime, activate and expand tumor-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from a patient’s peripheral blood immune cells. These autologous tumor-specific T cells are therapeutically re-infused into the patients, aiming to attack tumor cells or drive further anti-tumor immunity. The NEO-STIM process can be used in a personalized setting to generate a T cell product that is specific for a patient’s individual tumor mutations. In the PRECISION NEO-STIM approach, a derivative of NEO-STIM is used to generate T cell products against pre-validated shared antigens or shared neoantigens in a precision medicine setting. NEO-STIM can also be used in the research setting to evaluate the immunogenicity of specific targets and discover T cell receptors from healthy donors or patients for therapeutic application in an engineered T cell therapy
