CureVac Exits Public Markets Following BioNTech Acquisition
24.01.2026 - 11:24:04The era of CureVac as a publicly traded company has concluded. The German mRNA specialist, headquartered in Tübingen, has been delisted from stock exchanges following the finalization of its acquisition by fellow biotech firm BioNTech. This move marks the end of an independent chapter for a notable player in Europe's biotechnology landscape.
The takeover, structured as an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.25 billion, serves a dual purpose for BioNTech. It consolidates the company's standing in the mRNA field while simultaneously resolving a protracted patent dispute between the two entities.
Key elements of the completed deal include:
- Shares Tendered: 195,341,219 shares (representing roughly 86.75% of the outstanding capital)
- Exchange Ratio: 0.05363 BioNTech American Depositary Shares (ADS) for each CureVac share
- Implied Value at Announcement: $5.46 per CureVac share
- Final Closing Price: $4.66 per share (January 6)
- Total Deal Volume: About $1.25 billion
BioNTech's exchange offer concluded on January 6. The delisting from the Nasdaq became effective on January 16, with the Vienna Stock Exchange seeing its last trading day for CureVac stock on January 7.
Integration of Remaining Shareholders
Subsequent to the successful tender offer, BioNTech executed a statutory squeeze-out merger under Dutch law. CureVac N.V. was merged into CureVac Merger B.V., effectively terminating all remaining freely tradable shares.
Minority shareholders who did not initially tender their shares will receive the same consideration as outlined in the original exchange offer. The settlement process is being handled automatically by the custodian banks.
Strategic Rationale and Intellectual Property
From a strategic viewpoint, BioNTech has explicitly linked this acquisition to its core oncology focus. The company states that the merger creates one of the most comprehensive mRNA technology platforms within the Western pharmaceutical industry.
Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, emphasized that the transaction deepens the company's platform and unlocks additional potential to advance mRNA as a novel class of therapeutics. This positions BioNTech more firmly as a key Western competitor to Moderna in the mRNA therapeutics arena.
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A significant component of the deal is the transfer of CureVac's entire intellectual property portfolio to BioNTech. This includes patents related to mRNA design optimization, lipid nanoparticle formulation, and manufacturing processes. The transfer brings a definitive end to the long-standing patent conflict between the two German pioneers.
Operational Continuity and Future Development
Following the acquisition, CureVac's leadership has been reconstituted. The new executive board of CureVac SE now consists of Ugur Sahin, Sierk Poetting, and Ramón Zapata-Gomez, after the previous members voluntarily stepped down.
Operationally, existing activities will continue for the time being as BioNTech conducts strategic, operational, and scientific reviews. All of CureVac's research and development programs will now proceed under the BioNTech corporate umbrella. Notably:
- Several oncology projects remain in active development.
- A Phase 1 trial for non-small cell lung cancer, which received FDA approval in April 2025, will continue.
- BioNTech aims to initiate fifteen Phase 3 trials by the end of 2026.
- Any future value generated from these CureVac-originated programs will be reflected solely in BioNTech's valuation.
Regulatory Background and Market Perspective
The transaction received antitrust clearance from the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) in November 2025. CureVac's Tübingen site will be integrated into BioNTech's organizational structure.
The acquisition was based on a definitive agreement signed in June 2025. The exchange offer represented a 55% premium to CureVac's three-month volume-weighted average share price prior to the announcement. A collar mechanism was utilized to limit share price volatility risk during the process.
Market reaction to the deal's completion was muted. CureVac's final closing price of $4.66 remained below the implied $5.46 value at the time of the announcement, reflecting broader sectoral skepticism regarding the long-term profitability of biotech firms in the post-pandemic environment.
CureVac's history as a public company was marked by significant volatility. Its shares reached an all-time high of $136.27 in December 2020 before erasing substantial value in subsequent years. With the delisting, any future developments stemming from CureVac's technology and pipeline will now be channeled exclusively through BioNTech's stock.
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