BioNTech will make $800mn in upfront payments to Biotheus, a drugmaker based in Guangdong province, with milestone payments of up to $150mn. Uğur Şahin, chief executive of BioNTech, said the company believed that the Biotheus drug “has the potential to set a new standard of care in multiple oncology indications”.

The tie-up will also expand BioNTech's footprint in China, giving it a local research and development hub for clinical trials, as well as a new biologics manufacturing facility and more than 300 Biotheus employees,