BioNTech Faces Patent Dispute and Reality Check Ahead of Key Data Readouts

BioNTech's recent surge has been fueled by a sympathy rally, but the German biotech's stock price may be due for a correction. When Moderna and Merck announced positive Phase-3 results for their personalized melanoma vaccine INTerpath-001, BioNTech shares jumped over 20% in a single week, despite having no direct stake in the trial.

The logic behind the rally was that a win for the mRNA cancer vaccine class is a win for every player in the field. However, Leerink analysts have branded the market's response 'excessively optimistic,' trimming their revenue forecast for individualized cancer vaccines to $1.4 billion by 2032.

A legal overhang has also intensified as Arbutus Biopharma confirmed it will press forward with its patent infringement case against BioNTech and Pfizer over the lipid nanoparticle delivery technology used in Covid-19 vaccines.