BioNTech is currently working on several therapies against various cancers (melanoma, prostate, head and neck, ovarian, lung, colorectal), immunotherapies and vaccines, which are currently in clinical trials. In total, the lab hopes to obtain authorization for ten of these treatments by 2030.
After selling millions of doses of its anti-Covid vaccine developed with American giant Pfizer, BioNTech reinvested its profits in cancer research, the lab’s initial specialty being created in 2008 by two oncology researchers. Messenger RNA technology offers new perspectives for the development of innovative therapies against cancer which is the subject of intense competition among several players in the pharmaceutical world.
Skin cancer vaccine
American laboratory Moderna, one of BioEntech’s rivals, hopes that its therapeutic vaccine against skin cancer, which is currently under trial, will be approved in 2025. The therapies these companies are working on are not aimed at directly fighting cancer cells, but at strengthening them. A patient’s immune system so that it fights cancer.
The first treatment against fatty liver disease
“Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis” (MASH, formerly known as NASH) refers to the accumulation of fat in the liver that disrupts lipid metabolism. It mainly affects individuals who are overweight, suffer from type 2 diabetes or have metabolic syndrome. It can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer and can also have consequences on brain health. The frequency of this disease, “in the early 2000s, follows the trend of the main metabolic diseases, with an increasing prevalence of severe forms”, explains hepato-gastroenterologist (Lille University Hospital) Dr Guillaume Leselly.
Coping with the “heterogeneity and variability” of cancer, which differs from one patient to another, is a challenge, explains BioEntech. “(…) There are many types of cancer in different stages and the disease is different from one patient to another,” Bioentech co-founder Ugur Sahin explained to “Bild” newspaper in November. Decoding all possible mutations is a long-term task, which makes the development of treatments against these diseases more complicated than an anti-Covid vaccine. “Our goal is to develop a cancer vaccine that is tailor-made for each patient,” Ugur Sahin told Bild.
