mRNA Technology - Beyond COVID-19 Vaccine

mRNA is not just the basis of new COVID-19 vaccines. mRNA is also a versatile technology for the development and manufacturing of new medicinal product candidates such as cancer. As cancer is also a global health threat, BioNTech aspires to develop individualized cancer treatments. The manufacturing process behind mRNA-based cancer vaccine candidates is equivalent to mRNA-based the company’s COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine manufacturing approaches mainly differs in the required quantity, e.g. a few microgram of mRNA for the individualized vaccine candidates compared to hundreds of kilograms for a pandemic supply. The new technology allowed not only developing a new COVID-19 vaccine in a record time but also to quickly ramp-up the manufacturing facilities to supply billions of doses. The presentation will reveal key elements that make mRNA such a powerful technology and that define the facility set-up of tomorrow already today, for both: individualized medicines as well as for large volume medical products such as vaccines against infectious diseases.