|
 The company recently secured a multi-million investment from the
main backers of German COVID-19 vaccine developer BioNTech while
acquiring a possible Parkinson's disease vaccine.
AC Immune's CEO Andrea Pfeifer, in an interview with German business
magazine Wirtschaftswoche published in its online edition on Sunday,
described Alzheimer's, a non-curable disease the origin of which is
not known, as "a slow pandemic rolling towards the world". It
currently affected 55 million families, she said.
Athos, the holding company of Andreas and Thomas Struengmann -
anchor investors in BioNTech - together with financing companies MIG
and First Capital Partner jointly hold 12% of AC Immune following a
deal concluded a few weeks ago, Pfeifer said. The planned investment
was announced in July.
Athos and MIG were involved in founding BioNTech, which with partner
Pfizer developed the Western world's most widely used COVID-19
vaccine, and they remain the main shareholders.
[to top of second column] |
 Pfeifer said having the
Struengmann twins on board was a "blessing" for
AC Immune.
"If anyone knows how vaccines can be
commercialised, then it is the main investors in
BioNTech," she said.
AC Immune is working on several compounds for
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, including
vaccines.
The company has not yet launched a drug.
Other investors in AC Immune are Dietmar Hopp
via his biotech-holding company Dievini with
slightly above 20%, as well as institutional and
other private investors, Pfeifer said.
(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Susan
Fenton)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
