In a letter that was available to the Handelsblatt, the works council sharply criticized the management. There is talk of standstill, fear – and “shocking reports of racism and threats”.
The Biontech works council accuses the management of leaving the employees alone in the ongoing realignment. He complains about fears about the future and jobs as well as a “standstill in decisions”.
The works council mentions specific reports of “sexism, racism, discrimination and threats”. He calls for confidential contact points and more transparency about the consequences of the conversion.
The company says it takes the allegations “very seriously” and does not tolerate discrimination or retaliation against whistleblowers.
Biontech is closing the German production sites in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Tübingen and cutting up to 1,800 jobs. The founders Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci are leaving the company to start a new company.
Düsseldorf, Berlin. The Biontech works council attacks the biotech company's board of directors head-on in a letter. In it, the employee representatives denounce the treatment of employees in the company's current realignment.
“Employees report fears about the future and their jobs as well as the feeling of being alone with their worries and helpless in the face of the changes,” says the letter, which is available to Handelsblatt.
The letter from the Biontech works council was sent to the Executive Board on Monday evening. It is not just the uncertainty and a “standstill in decisions” that are complained about.
The works council was “shocked” by reports from individual employees about “toxic workplace situations and blatant behavior”. There were specific reports of “sexism, racism, discrimination and threats”.
Some would not dare to report the incidents or oppose them. There is a lack of trust in the internal whistleblower system through which such cases are supposed to be reported to the board.
In response to a request from Handelsblatt, Biontech said that the company was taking the allegations raised in the letter very seriously. Biontech does not tolerate “retaliation against whistleblowers, discrimination, sexism, racism or threats.”
Every report received via the external reporting office is taken seriously “and investigated in accordance with applicable legal requirements and our internal guidelines,” it said.
The Biontech management is in discussions with the employee representatives in this regard. “In such a situation, however, it is important to talk to each other and to distinguish rumors from certain facts,” writes the company.
Biontech is currently undergoing a profound reorganization. The production plants in Germany will be closed and research will be realigned. Up to 1,800 jobs are to be cut. The founding couple Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci are leaving the company in a few weeks and are setting up a new biotech company.
The division of the two companies should actually be decided by the summer, but is still unclear. This means that employees lack the basis for deciding whether to move to the founders' new company. Employees who are supposed to leave the company are in dispute with management about severance pay, according to employee circles.
In the letter, the works council calls on the board to provide “confidential contact points for employees who would like to report attacks or other stressful experiences”. Communication about the possible effects of the conversion on locations, areas and jobs must become more transparent.
Biontech emphasized that the company would inform the workforce via the appropriate channels as soon as “significant developments” were identified. However, there can be no question of a standstill in operational business: in the first nine months of 2026, Biontech reached 15 clinical milestones in active ingredient development, with another pending.
Biontech reported a net profit of over 185 million euros for the third quarter of 2026. In the first nine months, however, the Mainz company recorded a loss of 1.17 billion euros, which was more than in the same period last year with 831.1 million euros.
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 also announced the imminent closure of the three locations in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Tübingen this year. 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.
