BioNTech Introduces Its First In-House pDNA Center

February 7, 2023

The new $43M plasmid manufacturing facility will support both clinical and commercial production in the cancer and infectious disease spaces.

BioNTech has completed construction of its first proprietary plasmid DNA (pDNA) manufacturing facility in Marburg, Germany. The $43 million investment is part of a long-term development plan aiming to increase the company’s autonomy and flexibility in manufacturing the starting material for its oncology and COVID-19 vaccine pipeline.

More specificially, pDNA is used in the production of mRNA-based vaccines and therapies, as well as cell therapies. BioNTech plans to independently manufacture pDNA for clinical product candidates and commercial products in the areas of cancer and infectious diseases, with the goal of enabling faster production cycles and shorter product delivery times.

“Since we acquired our manufacturing site in Marburg in the fall of 2020, we have continuously invested in the site to expand our manufacturing capacities and capabilities,” comments Ugur Sahin, BioNTech’s CEO and co-founder. “ … We plan to manufacture mRNA-based products for a broad range of clinical trial candidates at our Marburg site while we are preparing production measures for the commercial manufacturing of personalized oncology therapeutics.”