BMS-BioNTech $11B Partnership Develop Bispecific Cancer Drug

BioNTech and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) have entered a strategic partnership to co-develop and co-commercialize BioNTech’s bispecific antibody candidate, BNT327, targeting PD-L1 and VEGF-A for various solid tumors. BMS is committing $1.5 billion upfront, plus $2 billion in non-contingent payments through 2028, and BioNTech may receive up to $7.6 billion in additional milestones, potentially making the deal worth over $11 billion. This collaboration aims to accelerate clinical trials and broaden the treatment's use as monotherapy or in combination with other drugs, with both companies sharing development, manufacturing costs, profits, and losses equally. BNT327 is currently in global Phase 3 trials for small cell and non-small cell lung cancer and is expected to enter late-stage testing for triple-negative breast cancer. The partnership leverages BMS’s expertise in clinical trial development to address BioNTech’s prior challenges and strengthens BioNTech’s oncology pipeline and financial stability. This move positions both companies to compete with existing blockbuster drugs like MSD’s Keytruda, as bispecific antibodies targeting PD-L1/PD-1 and VEGF are emerging as promising next-generation cancer immunotherapies.