BioNTech to buy cancer vaccine company Neon Therapeutics

The German immuno-oncology company BioNTech will acquire Neon Therapeutics for a mere $67 million. Neon was founded in 2015 to develop personalized cancer vaccines that train a patient’s immune system to target tumor neoantigens. Neon raised $161 million from private investors before a $100 million initial public offering in June 2018. Since then, its clinical studies have failed to impress investors, and its stock has fallen 90%. In November 2019, the firm turned its focus to creating custom T-cell therapies with its neoantigen knowledge. That’s the program BioNTech is most excited about.