BioNTech Shreds Its Vaccine Past as Shareholders Vote on a Cancer-Fueled Future

BioNTech restructures, cutting 1,860 jobs and closing production sites by 2027, as it pivots from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to oncology, aiming for €500M annual savings by 2029.

Two years after its mRNA jab made it a household name, BioNTech is systematically dismantling the pandemic-era machine. The Mainz-based company has announced it will cut 1,860 jobs worldwide and shutter production sites in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg, Tübingen and Singapore by the end of 2027. The move is part of a drastic pivot toward oncology, a sector where the company hopes to prove its platform can deliver blockbuster treatments beyond infectious disease.

The restructuring comes at a heavy cost. BioNTech recorded a first-quarter net loss of €532m (or $622.3m in US dollar terms) on revenue of just €118.1m. The red ink is driven by soaring R&D spending on a pipeline of experimental cancer drugs, notably the bispecific antibody Pumitamig and the immunotherapy Gotistobart. Management sees the burn rate as a necessary investment: by 2029 the cost-cutting programme is expected to generate annual savings of half a billion euros, all of which will be redirected into oncology research.

At the company’s virtual annual general meeting today, shareholders were asked to approve a series of structural changes designed to underpin that shift. The most eye-catching is a proposal to authorise the issuance of new shares worth up to €129m — or 50% of the current share capital — through to 2030. This would give the board flexibility to raise fresh equity if needed without returning to investors for permission each time.

The supervisory board is also set to expand, gaining two new seats occupied by specialists in oncology and clinical development. In a further reorganisation, a profit and loss transfer agreement will be struck with the newly formed subsidiary BioNTech Discovery GmbH, giving the parent company direct control over the unit. That business is where the founders, Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, will focus their efforts once they step down from the executive board at the end of 2026. The pair plan to launch an independent biotech venture focused on mRNA innovation, with BioNTech contributing technology and retaining a minority stake.

Financially, the company remains on solid ground despite the losses. It holds nearly €17bn in cash and short-term investments, a war chest that has allowed it to authorise a share buyback programme of up to $1bn through May 2027. The buyback is intended to support the stock as investors digest the cost of the transformation and the departure of the founding couple.

So far, the market has been cautious. The shares closed at €78.70 yesterday, just under 4% below their 50-day moving average. In pre-market trading today they slipped as much as 5.6%, and year-to-date the stock is off roughly 5%. With a 52-week high of about €102, the distance to recovery is significant.

The company has flagged 2026 as a pivotal year. Over the coming months, clinical data in lung and gynaecological cancers are expected to read out. If those results are positive, the radical overhaul could begin to pay off for long-suffering shareholders. Until then, the production of the COVID vaccine Comirnaty will be completely handed over to partner Pfizer by end-2026, leaving BioNTech as a pure oncology play. Major shareholder ATHOS, which holds a stake of just over 40%, is for now sticking with the strategy.