Curevac share +28 percent: Biontech wants to take over curevac

With the purchase, the Mainz further know-how on the way to cancer therapies on a mRNA-basis want to bring themselves into the house. The transaction will have a billion dollar volume. It is already the second billion -dollar deal that Biontech announces within a short time. Biontech and Curevac took part in the race for a Corona vaccine in 2020. Biontech was successful, Curevac wasn’t.

According to the Mainz, the Mainzers want to exchange every Curevac share in Biontech stocks (“American Depositary Shares”, in short: ads). Both companies are noted at the US technology agency Nasdaq.

Transaction should be completed by the end of 2025

According to this, around $ 5.46 is set for each Curevac share, which corresponds to an assessment of the Tübingen company of around $ 1.25 billion (EUR 1.08 billion). After the takeover, which will be targeted by the end of 2025, Curevac shareholders are expected to hold between 4 and 6 percent of Biontech, as it was said.

On the way to the complete takeover, Biontech sees himself on the right track. Shareholders, who together hold 36.76 percent of Curevac shares, have signed agreements to enter their shares subject to the conditions, including the Biotech-Holding Dievini from SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp. The Federal Government had confirmed that it was fundamentally positive about the business. Biontech therefore assumes that the loan institution for reconstruction, which holds 13.32 percent in Curevac on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, will support the transaction.

Biontech is aiming for the first cancer registration application at the end of 2025

50.08 percent of Curevac shares would then come together. The condition for the takeover offer is a minimum of 80 percent. According to Biontech, Curevac shareholders, who initially did not work on their shareholders, will be offered the same consideration for each share.

“For us, this transaction is another component in Biontech’s oncology strategy and an investment in the future of cancer medicine,” said Biontech boss and co-founder Ugur Sahin.

Biontech, who was once known and rich with its Covid vaccine, and richly became rich in cancer immune therapies and is aiming for an initial application for admission in the United States until the end of this year, for a kind of chemotherapy of the next generation against uterine cancer.

Antibody-active ingredient conjugate is used in such therapy. The active ingredients of chemotherapy should be brought to cancer cells more specifically with the help of antibodies. Another mainstay on which Biontech relies on cancer therapies is MRNA technology. It starts on the construction plans of the body’s own proteins, it was famous for Corona vaccines, such as the Vakzin developed by Biontech and the US group.

Research site Tübingen should be preserved

Curevac has also been researching mRNA technology for years. In addition to Biontech and others, the Tübingen were once considered one of the hope for the development of a vaccine against the virus. Then the company withdrew from the admission procedure due to a comparatively low effectiveness, as a result there was also patent disputes between Curevac and Biontech. Most recently, the Tübingen areas had broken down and wanted to focus on research.

“For me, this transaction is much more than just a business step,” said Curevac boss Alexander Zehnder. “Both companies have been pursuing similar goals for over two decades and have often been challenged from different perspectives.” That should now be brought together under one roof. The Tübingen research and development location of Curevac should be preserved.

For Biontech, the transaction comes shortly after the announced cooperation with the US group Bristol Myers Squibb. This revolves around the development of one of the most promising cancer interacting candidates named BNT327. It is intended to counteract the effects of tumors that suppress the body’s immune system.

This agreement includes billions of payments from the US group to Biontech-a total of 3.5 billion US dollars (around 3.06 billion euros) will flow without conditions, partly in the second quarter, partly until 2028 with continuation payments. If certain steps are reached in the development, Biontech can get another up to $ 7.6 billion.

Curevac founder: takeover good signs for Europe

Curevac founder Ingmar Hoerr sees the planned takeover of the Tübingen company through Biontech a good sign for Europe. “I find it extremely positive,” he told the German Press Agency. This creates one in Europe in addition to the industry-giant Moderna from the USA. The potential of mRNA technology is far from being exhausted.

The fact that the former opponent Biontech Curevac wanted to take over is good for the Tübingen location. Biontech, in turn, could benefit from the research landscape there. The technological know-how and the experience of CureVac in mRNA technology should not be underestimated.

From then on, forces could be bundled. In the past, both companies would have developed very similar things separately. It is also extremely positive that with a takeover, the patent disputes between Curevac and Biontech would end, which would have braked unnecessarily. The disputes had gone before the Federal Patent Court.

Hoerr had withdrawn from his post at Curevac in March 2020 as a result of a hemorrhage. In 2021 he had withdrawn his planned candidacy for the Supervisory Board for health problems.

The Curevac share at times shoots up by 28.07 percent in Xetra trading to 4.64 euros, in pre-exchanging US trade on NASDAQ, paper at times even gains 22.92 percent to $ 5.41. The Biontech share also at times lists 0.70 percent higher in the pre-exchangeable Nasdaq trade at $ 106.20.

Mainz/Tübingen (dpa-Afx)