BioNTech Cuts 1,860 Jobs and Shuts Four Sites as Founders Prepare to Exit and Cancer-Focused Restructuring Gathers Pace

BioNTech shares slide 10% after announcing 1,860 job cuts, site closures, and a strategic shift to oncology, supported by a $1B buyback and new leadership.

The financial market’s verdict on BioNTech’s post-pandemic transition was delivered in a sharp sell-off, with the stock sliding nearly 10% in seven trading sessions to close at €79.45 on Friday — well below its 200-day moving average of €87.36. That price action reflects the scale of the task ahead as the Mainz-based biotech embarks on the most aggressive restructuring in its history, slashing 22% of its workforce and closing multiple manufacturing sites to pivot fully toward oncology.

BioNTech will eliminate approximately 1,860 positions by the end of next year, affecting locations that were either inherited through the Curevac acquisition or built up during the pandemic. The former Curevac research facilities in Tübingen face the deepest cuts, with around 800 jobs at risk, prompting the Baden-Württemberg state government to set up a task force aimed at retaining biotech talent. Additional closures are planned at plants in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Singapore. The company had already trimmed dozens of roles at its Gaithersburg, Maryland, site earlier in the year.

The financial strain of the realignment is already showing. In the first quarter of 2026, BioNTech posted a three-digit million euro loss on revenue of just €118 million, as the Covid-19 vaccine business continues to wind down. Production of that shot is being handed over entirely to partner Pfizer, freeing the company from logistics infrastructure that included ultra-cold packaging capable of sustaining temperatures as low as -80°C. From 2029, management expects annual savings of roughly €500 million — money that will be channelled directly into its cancer pipeline.

To reassure investors during this costly transition, the supervisory board has authorised a share buyback programme of up to $1 billion, representing about 4.2% of outstanding shares, to be executed by May 2027. This is backed by a substantial liquidity cushion of €16.8 billion, which gives the company the breathing room to absorb near-term losses while advancing late-stage trials.

The leadership overhaul is equally dramatic. Founders Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci will step down from their operational roles by the end of 2026, handing control to a new management team tasked with delivering regulatory approvals for ten cancer indications by 2030. Several pivotal phase-3 studies are already underway, and the pressure to show tangible results is mounting.

Analyst sentiment has begun to stabilise even as the stock trades near multi-year lows. Wall Street Zen upgraded BioNTech to “Hold” over the weekend, and the consensus recommendation leans towards “Buy,” with a median price target of $131.60 per American depositary share.

Looking ahead, shareholders will get their first chance to quiz management at the annual general meeting on Thursday, 15 May, where detailed information on the financial impact of the Curevac integration and the timeline for cost savings is expected. Earlier in the week, Bayer’s quarterly earnings release on Tuesday, 12 May, may also offer broader context on the health of Germany’s pharmaceutical ecosystem as the industry grapples with funding constraints and a shift toward precision medicine and AI-driven drug discovery.