BioNTech says developed method to detect high-risk variants

German COVID-19 vaccine maker BioNTech said it developed a method to quickly determine whether a new virus variant is a cause for concern, collaborating with British artificial intelligence startup InstaDeep Ltd.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, BioNTech and its partner said the new computational method can analyse genetic sequencing data of new coronavirus mutations found in infected people and assesses the risk they pose within days and sometimes within just minutes.