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German biotech firm BioNTech's Turkish-origin founders Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci are reportedly preparing to launch a new pharmaceutical company called Arife as they plan to step down from the company by the end of 2026.
The new company, headquartered in Mainz, will focus on researching, developing, producing, and marketing pharmaceutical products, with Sahin and Tureci concentrating on next-generation mRNA-based medicines, Handelsblatt reported.
The company is named after Arife, a Turkish female name meaning "the knowledgeable," according to the report.
Sahin and Tureci announced in March that they would leave BioNTech by the end of 2026 and establish a new company. They are expected to remain shareholders in BioNTech.
Meanwhile, Guido Oelkers, the chief executive of Swedish pharmaceutical company Sobi, is set to succeed Sahin at BioNTech, with his appointment as chairman of the management board planned no later than Feb. 1, 2027.
Michael Maximilian Kring is listed as a member of Arife’s management board in the company register. He currently serves as finance chief at Berlin- and Boston-based biotech firm Cellbrick Therapeutics and previously held the same position at BioNTech from 2009 to 2014.
Kring is expected to take on the finance role at Arife, according to the report. The company’s current articles of association provide for a three-member supervisory board, while the latest change in the company register was recorded on Sept. 1.
People familiar with the plans expect Arife to build a workforce in the low hundreds. Sahin is also seeking to bring former BioNTech colleagues into the new company, with potential recruits already identified and negotiations underway, the report added.
The plans are still being finalized, and details could change in the coming months.
The division of intellectual property between the two companies remains unresolved. Patents covering drug candidates are currently held by BioNTech, while the companies are still negotiating the financial valuation of assets and patents, according to people familiar with the discussions.
BioNTech plans to transfer rights and mRNA technologies to Arife. In return, BioNTech is expected to receive a minority stake in the new company as well as additional revenue through milestone payments and licensing fees.
Under the proposed research split, Arife would handle part of the early-stage research and pass suitable drug candidates to BioNTech for late-stage clinical development.
Sahin and Tureci are expected to retain a roughly 16% stake in BioNTech and remain connected to the company through cooperation and licensing arrangements.
Sahin and Tureci previously founded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals in 2001, a company focused on cancer immunotherapies. They sold it to Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas in 2016 for more than €400 million ($455 million).
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