Coronavirus: German and US companies reach a deal to develop vaccine

Germany's BioNTech is to use its drug development platform alongside Pfizer to find a vaccine for COVID-19. It comes after Donald Trump reportedly tried to entice a German lab to develop a vaccine exclusively for the US.

US drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech will immediately start work together on a potential vaccine for COVID-19, the companies announced in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Both companies have signed a letter of intent for the vaccine’s distribution outside China and they will decide on financial terms, manufacturing and possible commercialization over the next few weeks.

“This is a global pandemic, which requires a global effort. In joining forces with our partner Pfizer, we believe we can accelerate our effort to bring a COVID-19 vaccine to people around the world who need it,” said Ugur Sahin, Co-Founder and CEO of BioNTech.

The companies said they would use BioNTech’s mRNA-based drug development platform and will use research and development sites from the two companies in both the US and Germany. […]

Race for vaccine

On Sunday, German media reported that US President Donald Trump was offering large sums of money to German scientists working on a vaccine. He allegedly wanted to secure exclusive rights to the CureVac company’s work. […]

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