Biontech plans to take over Curevac: Revolution for Cancer Research!

Biontech plans to take over Curevac: Revolution for Cancer Research!

Tübingen, Deutschland - Biontech plans to take over the competitor Curevac from Tübingen to strengthen his research and development capacities in the area of ​​MRNA-based cancer therapies. Today's announcement (12.06.2025) says that Biontech intends to acquire all Curevac shares and offer a public exchange offer for the company's shares. Biontech offers $ 1.25 billion, which corresponds to a payment of $ 5.46 per curevac share. This corresponds to a significant premium of 55 % on the volume-weighted average price of the past three months of 3.53 USD, reported.

The takeover is seen as a strategic step in Biontech's oncology strategy. Alexander Zehnder, CEO of Curevac, expressed the common determination of both companies to exploit the potential of mRNA technology. This is the second billion dollar transaction from Biontech within a short time, and the question of approval by the antitrust authorities remains to be seen. The aim is to complete the takeover by the end of the year, provided that at least 80 % of the Curevac shareholders offer their shares. In total, certain shareholders who hold 36.76 % of the shares have already agreed to sell their shares in the context of the offer, such as globe newswire point out.

Removal of the research location

One of the central announcements by Biontech includes the preservation of the research and production location in Tübingen. Biontech founder Ugur Sahin described the transaction as a "investment in the future of cancer medicine", while both he and the board of Curevac emphasized the benefits of the common innovative strength. Curevac will be a 100 percent subsidiary of Biontech after the takeover, which ensures the deepening of mRNA research and production in Germany.

MRNA technology itself has always been of significant importance in biotechnology. The founder of Curevac, Ingmar Hoerr, already had a crucial moment at the University of Tübingen in 1999 when he discovered that mRNA could trigger a stronger immune response than DNA. Despite initial skepticism, he only found support much later when Biontech and Moderna achieved a protective effect of 95 % in pandemic with their mrNA vaccines against Sars-Cov-2. These discoveries also opened new perspectives for the application of mRNA in cancer therapy, such as Deutschlandfunk describes.

research show that mRNA can steer the immune system on tumor cells. Therefore, numerous biotechnology companies work on individualized mRNA vaccines that aim at specific features of tumors. The takeover of Curevac by Biontech could thus significantly promote the development of new approaches in cancer treatment.