BioNTech Reshapes Itself: Founder Exits, Factory Closures, and a $1 Billion Buyback Signal a New Era

BioNTech founders exit by 2026, $1B buyback authorized, 1,860 jobs cut, and oncology pipeline with 25+ trials highlighted at AGM.

BioNTech is undergoing its most radical transformation since the pandemic years, and the moves announced at its annual general meeting on May 15 represent a clean break with the past. Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, the company’s founding duo, told shareholders they will leave by the end of 2026 to launch an independent biotech venture focused on next-generation mRNA technology. BioNTech plans to take a minority stake in that new entity, a sign it intends to keep one foot in the platform that built the business while pivoting its own future toward oncology.

The decision caps a meeting where 92% of capital was represented and every agenda item was approved — a strong endorsement of the shift. Sahin’s address was his last as CEO before handing over the reins. The supervisory board is now searching for replacements for both the chief executive and the chief medical officer, setting a leadership succession that will define the coming phase.

Alongside the founder departures, BioNTech unveiled a $1 billion share buyback programme for American Depositary Shares, authorised through May 6, 2027. The buyback is to be funded from a liquidity cushion that stood at €16.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents and securities at the end of the first quarter. That war chest gives the company ample room to finance its costly pivot, even as it books steep losses: the net loss for Q1 came in at €532 million on revenue of €118.1 million, down from €182.8 million a year earlier as Covid vaccine sales continued to shrink.

To preserve capital for oncology research, BioNTech is slashing 1,860 jobs and closing multiple production sites, including its German facilities in Marburg and Idar-Oberstein, a plant in Singapore, and locations acquired from CureVac. The restructuring is expected to generate annual savings of roughly €500 million by 2029. The goal is to channel resources into a pipeline that now features more than 25 Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials, among them the partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb on Pumitamig, a bispecific immunomodulator.

The board itself is being reinforced with oncology expertise. The supervisory board was expanded from six to eight members, and two new names — Prof. Iris Löw-Friedrich and Susanne Schaffert — were elected, both bringing backgrounds in clinical development and cancer therapy. Helmut Jeggle, whose mandate was extended, was subsequently chosen as chairman, replacing the outgoing leadership structure with a team better equipped to oversee the transition.

On the clinical front, BioNTech has already kicked off five registration trials for Pumitamig in 2026 and expects to report six late-stage readouts during the year. Those data points, the company argues, will matter far more to investors than dwindling Covid revenues. Management held firm on its 2026 revenue forecast of €2.0 billion to €2.3 billion, a signal that the existing business can stabilise while the pipeline builds the next valuation floor.

So far, the market has been cautious. BioNTech’s American depositary shares trade around 25% below their 52-week high, and the stock has shed roughly 7.5% since the start of the year. The €76.40 price level in Frankfurt late Tuesday reflected a decline of about 15% over the past month. Investors are weighing the promise of a multi-product oncology company by 2030 against the reality of near-term losses and the uncertainty of a leadership handover.

The buyback may provide some support, but the real test will be clinical execution. BioNTech has the capital, the pipeline and now the governance to chase a future beyond vaccines. Whether the founders’ exit accelerates or complicates that journey is the question that will hang over the stock for the next two years.