An employee holds up a vial of an oncological product under development, at the BioNTeCH research institute in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, on October 5, 2022. (File photo: AFP)

JERUSALEM, March 22 (Xinhua) -- German biotechnology company BioNTech SE will establish a center in Israel for the development and production of vaccines and drugs against cancer, the Israeli Finance Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The new center will be set up at the Har-Hotzvim Hi-Tech Park in northwest Jerusalem, in cooperation with the Israeli finance, health, and economy ministries, together with the Jerusalem Municipality.

The statement noted that the center will focus on mRNA technologies for treating cancer, and enable better preparation for future pandemics, it added.

The German company will also establish an mRNA excellence center in the central city of Ness Ziona, in cooperation with the nearby Weizmann Institute of Science.

The purpose of the excellence center is to bring together scientists from Israel's research institutes and hospitals in the fields of life sciences, computer sciences, physics, chemistry, and more, to promote treatment for cancer, infectious diseases, and other diseases.