Noerr advises EIB on the EUR 100m financing for BioNTech for Covid-19 vaccine development and manufacturing

Led by Michael Schuhmacher and Andreas Naujoks a team of international law firm Noerr has advised the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the provision of a EUR 100m loan to BioNTech SE.

The EIB loan supports the development of BNT162, BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine programme. It will also allow BioNTech to expand its manufacturing capacity in order to supply the vaccine fast worldwide in response to the pandemic.

BioNTech became the first European company to enter clinical testing, having started a clinical trial in Germany in April and a further clinical trial in the United States at the beginning of May. BioNTech’s development programme for BNT162 is one of the broadest development programmes globally, with four vaccine candidates being tested in parallel.

mRNA vaccines consist of genetic material, called messenger RNA, that provides instructions for a human cell to make a target protein, or immunogen, which activates the body’s immune response against the respective virus. The goal of a vaccine is to stimulate the immune system to generate protective, long-lasting antibody and T cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 and prevent subsequent infection upon exposure to the virus. mRNA vaccines are a potent new developmental class of vaccines with potential for high versatility and favourable safety properties. BioNTech was able to bring the first vaccine candidates from concept into clinical testing in less than three months. Safety, speed and flexibility are of the utmost importance in reacting to the current pandemic.

The EIB loan will be disbursed in two tranches of EUR50m each, following completion of pre-defined milestones. It is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the financial heart of the Investment Plan for Europe, in which the EIB and the European Commission partner to kick-off investment for EU priority projects. It also benefits from InnovFin Corporate Research Equity for Corporate Research backed by Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Recently, Noerr teams led by Michael Schuhmacher had provided legal advice to the EIB on various loans to biopharmaceutical companies in Germany. The Frankfurt finance team regularly advises the EIB.

Advisors to the European Investment Bank (EIB): Noerr LLP

Michael Schuhmacher, Andreas Naujoks (joint lead), Hannes Butz (all Banking & Finance, all Frankfurt)

For Luxembourg law (Arendt & Medernach): Sara Gerling