Pharma: Biontech once again with a plus - founding couple about to say goodbye

The people of Mainz are investing a lot of money in research and are hoping for approvals in oncology. There is now a plus in the third quarter. The farewell of the founding couple casts its shadows.

Mainz. A few weeks before the announced departure of co-founders Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, Biontech reported a profit for the third quarter. For the first nine months of 2026, the pharmaceutical company and vaccine manufacturer from Mainz still recorded a loss of billions. Meanwhile, discussions are underway as to whether Biontech's rights will be brought into Sahin and Türeci's new company.

According to its own information, Biontech closed the third quarter with a net profit of 184.5 million euros after a loss of 28.7 million euros in the same quarter of the previous year. In the first nine months of the current financial year, the Mainz-based company recorded a loss of 1.17 billion euros, more than the 831.1 million in the same period last year.

A lot of money for research and site closures

One main reason is the immense expenditure on research and development, especially for cancer therapies, while at the same time the Covid-19 vaccine business has shrunk significantly. Against this background, Biontech has to make savings in some areas and this year also announced the imminent closure of the three locations in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Tübingen. The company announced at the end of September that it should end in Tübingen at the end of 2027, in Marburg at the beginning of 2028 and in Idar-Oberstein at the end of 2028. Around 1,800 employees are affected.

Biontech's revenues in the third quarter were 1.29 billion euros. In the previous year it was more at 1.52 billion, but at that time Biontech also benefited from payments from the US group Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS). Biontech and BMS have agreed on joint global development and commercialization for the promising active ingredient candidate Pumitamig, for which a lot of money flowed from BMS to Biontech at the time.

Will there be an agreement with a new company?

The business development in the third quarter allows the sales forecast for 2026 to be limited to the upper range, said CFO Ramón Zapata, according to the announcement. Biontech is now assuming revenues for the full year of 1.7 to 1.9 billion euros, previously the range was 1.6 to 1.9 billion.

Sahin and Türeci, the two central faces of the company that became known during the corona pandemic, will leave Biontech by the end of this year at the latest and move to a new company. It has the name Arife, will also be based in Mainz and will be dedicated to the research and development as well as the production and marketing of pharmaceutical products.

Some time ago it was said that the plan was to bring rights and mRNA technologies from Biontech into this new company. In return, Biontech would then receive a minority stake in the new company as well as license fees. According to Biontech, it is not yet clear whether there will be such a binding agreement. The talks were ongoing and it was now said that an agreement was optional for both sides.