MAINZ, Germany, May 5, 2026, 13:13 CEST
- BioNTech saw first-quarter revenue slip to €118.1 million, with net loss deepening to €531.9 million.
- The company is set to pull out of sites in Germany and Singapore, a move that could impact as many as 1,860 jobs. It’s also lining up a buyback worth up to $1 billion.
- Investors are eyeing late-stage cancer drugs to see if they’ll make up for the decline in the COVID vaccine business.
BioNTech announced plans Tuesday to leave several manufacturing sites, moves that could impact as many as 1,860 jobs. The biotech is also launching a buyback of up to $1 billion in its U.S.-listed shares, stepping up its reset after the pandemic as its quarterly loss grew. The Mainz-based company is sticking to its 2026 revenue target, leaning more on its cancer drug pipeline as it looks ahead.
Timing is critical here. BioNTech faces falling vaccine sales as it tries to pivot from its COVID cash surge to focus on late-stage cancer drugs, just as both founders are set to exit their executive posts by year-end. First-quarter revenue dropped to €118.1 million from €182.8 million a year ago; net loss widened, hitting €531.9 million compared to €415.8 million.
BioNTech’s war chest remains hefty, with €16.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and securities logged as of the end of March. Still, the most recent numbers reveal the price tag of BioNTech’s pivot, with its approved cancer products yet to hit the market.
BioNTech is preparing to wind down its presence at Idar-Oberstein, Marburg, and Tübingen in Germany by the end of 2027, while its Singapore site is set to wrap up operations in the first quarter of 2027. The company is weighing both partial and full sales of these locations, estimating annual savings could hit around €500 million by 2029.
BioNTech’s latest numbers landed all over the map versus what Wall Street was looking for. The adjusted loss came in at €1.95 per share, narrowing analyst forecasts by €0.20, according to StreetInsider. But revenue missed by a wide mark—€118.1 million, well under the €185.6 million consensus. For 2026, management put revenue guidance at €2.0 billion to €2.3 billion, largely lining up with the €2.185 billion Street consensus.
CEO Ugur Sahin put oncology front and center this quarter, emphasizing BioNTech’s push on its cancer portfolio and ongoing efforts to “translate our science into survival” for patients. First-quarter revenue, said CFO Ramón Zapata, mirrored seasonal COVID vaccine demand and landed “in line with our expectations.” GlobeNewswire
Pumitamig—also called BNT327 or BMS986545—sits at the heart of the effort. BioNTech is pushing ahead with the drug alongside Bristol Myers Squibb. It’s a bispecific antibody, so it’s engineered to hit two targets at once: PD-L1, which helps shield tumors from immune attack, and VEGF-A, used by tumors to trigger new blood vessel growth.
Last year, Bristol Myers put $1.5 billion on the table upfront for BioNTech, along with $2 billion in guaranteed payments through 2028, plus as much as $7.6 billion tied to future milestones for the drug. Under the deal, both firms take an even split—development and manufacturing costs, profits, losses, all divided 50:50 worldwide.
The race in PD-1/VEGF and PD-L1/VEGF therapies is heating up, with BioNTech, Bristol Myers, Summit Therapeutics, Akeso, Pfizer, 3SBio, and Merck all in the mix. RBC Capital Markets analyst Trung Huynh commented, according to BioPharma Dive last month, that early results from Merck bring it “back in contention.” Still, Huynh noted the data didn’t show a “distinctive edge.” BioPharma Dive
The mood’s been fragile lately. BioNTech shares slid 3.69% on May 4, giving back the gains from the previous session, wallstreetONLINE noted. At that stage, the stock was down 7.39% for the week, though it still held gains on a one-month and year-to-date basis.
There’s a disconnect here: BioNTech’s clinical pace threatens to outstrip its cash runway. Back in January, the company said it doesn’t see oncology product revenue coming through in 2026, even with ambitions for seven late-stage readouts and 15 Phase 3 trials to wrap up by year-end. If results disappoint, get delayed, or safety issues crop up, BioNTech could end up relying on COVID vaccine sales and partner payments for longer than planned.
Management wants investors to overlook the shrinking vaccine division and instead focus on what’s coming in the data pipeline. Sure, the buyback could give the stock some lift. Still, the main issue isn’t cosmetic—BioNTech has to prove it can leverage both its cash reserves and the Bristol Myers partnership to deliver cancer drug approvals before investor patience wears out.
