BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) stock jumped on Tuesday and went even higher early on Wednesday. This comes after the company announced a collaboration with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) to co-develop and distribute a potential mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection.

The goal of the collaboration is to accelerate development of BioNTech’s potential first-in-class COVID-19 mRNA vaccine program, BNT162, which is expected to enter clinical testing by the end of April 2020.

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The rapid advancement of this collaboration builds on the research and development collaboration into which Pfizer and BioNTech entered in 2018 to develop mRNA-based vaccines for prevention of influenza.

This collaboration is effective immediately, and the companies will finalize details of the agreement regarding financial terms and all activities related to development, manufacturing and potential commercialization over the next few weeks.

Mikael Dolsten, chief scientific officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development & Medical, Pfizer, commented:

We are proud that our ongoing, successful relationship with BioNTech gives our companies the resiliency to mobilize our collective resources with extraordinary speed in the face of this worldwide challenge. We believe that by pairing Pfizer’s development, regulatory and commercial capabilities with BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine technology and expertise as one of the industry leaders, we are reinforcing our commitment to do everything we can to combat this escalating pandemic, as quickly as possible.

Shares of BioNTech traded up almost 30% at $86.10 early Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $12.52 to $76.00. The consensus analyst price target is $28.65.

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