By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Pfizer stock (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech stock (NASDAQ:BNTX) were up 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively, in Wednesday’s premarket trading as the two companies said they will work together to develop an mRNA-based vaccine against shingles.
While there are vaccines for shingles, a debilitating and painful disease, the two companies aim to make an improved one that shows higher efficacy and better tolerability, and is more efficient to produce globally.
Product candidates will be based on Pfizer’s antigen technology and on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology used in the companies’ highly successful Covid-19 vaccine, according to a joint release by the companies.
Clinical trials are expected to start in the second half of 2022, the release said.
Under the agreement, Pfizer will pay BioNTech $225 million upfront, including $75 million in cash and an equity investment of $150 million. BioNTech is eligible to receive future regulatory and sales milestone payments of up to $200 million. BioNTech will pay Pfizer $25 million for the company’s proprietary antigen technology.
Shingles affects about one in three people in the U.S. during their lifetime. It is a chronic form of the varicella zoster virus which causes an initial chickenpox infection. Even after being treated, the chickenpox virus can remain dormant in human nerve cells and re-activate later, due to stress or a compromised immune system.