(Reuters) -German vaccine maker BioNTech said on Tuesday that it plans to expand its investment in the United Kingdom by up to 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) over the next ten years to broaden its research and development activities.
The company said its subsidiary BioNTech UK signed a grant agreement with the UK government that builds on a multi-year collaboration announced in January 2023.
Under the deal, BioNTech had undertaken to enroll up to 10,000 patients in clinical trials by the end of 2030 for personalized cancer therapies and make investments to expand the company’s footprint in the United Kingdom.
BioNTech said on Tuesday that the UK will give the company a grant of up to 129 million pounds ($172.05 million) for a period of 10 years.
The company plans to use the grant to establish two new R&D centers, of which one will be based in Cambridge.
The company said the efforts are part of its strategy aimed at bringing multiple cancer treatments to the market by 2030.
The planned expansion is expected to create more than 400 new highly skilled jobs over the next 10 years, the UK government said in a statement.
The government said the investments could lead to the discovery and development of new therapies, “all supporting the mission to rebuild the NHS for the long-term, that sits at the heart of the government’s Plan for Change.”
($1 = 0.7499 pounds)
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
