MAINZ, Germany, May 5, 2026, 13:13 CEST
- BioNTech’s first-quarter revenue fell to €118.1 million and its net loss widened to €531.9 million.
- The company plans site exits in Germany and Singapore, affecting up to about 1,860 positions, while preparing a buyback of up to $1 billion.
- Investors are watching whether late-stage cancer drugs can offset the fading COVID vaccine franchise.
BioNTech said on Tuesday it would exit manufacturing sites affecting up to 1,860 positions and buy back up to $1 billion of its U.S.-listed shares, a sharper post-pandemic reset that came as its quarterly loss widened. The Mainz-based company also kept its 2026 revenue guidance unchanged, putting more weight on its cancer pipeline to carry the story.
The timing matters. BioNTech is trying to move from a COVID vaccine windfall into a late-stage oncology company while vaccine revenue keeps shrinking and its two founders prepare to step out of their current executive roles by year-end. Revenue fell to €118.1 million in the first quarter from €182.8 million a year earlier, while the net loss rose to €531.9 million from €415.8 million.
The company still has a large cushion. Cash, cash equivalents and security investments stood at €16.8 billion at the end of March, but the latest figures show how costly the transition remains before BioNTech has approved cancer products on the market.
BioNTech said it plans to exit operations at Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Tübingen in Germany by the end of 2027, with Singapore operations expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2027. It is exploring partial or full sales of the sites and said annual savings could reach about €500 million in 2029.
The financial print was mixed against Wall Street expectations. StreetInsider reported that BioNTech’s adjusted loss of €1.95 a share was €0.20 better than the analyst estimate, but revenue of €118.1 million was well below the €185.6 million consensus. The company’s 2026 revenue outlook of €2.0 billion to €2.3 billion sat close to consensus of €2.185 billion.
Chief Executive Ugur Sahin framed the quarter around oncology, saying BioNTech had made progress in its cancer strategy and would keep trying to “translate our science into survival” for cancer patients. Chief Financial Officer Ramón Zapata said first-quarter revenue reflected seasonal COVID vaccine demand and was “in line with our expectations.” GlobeNewswire
At the center is pumitamig, also known as BNT327 or BMS986545, a drug BioNTech is developing with Bristol Myers Squibb. It is a bispecific antibody, meaning one drug is built to hit two targets: PD-L1, a brake on immune attack against tumors, and VEGF-A, a signal tumors use to grow blood vessels.
Bristol Myers agreed last year to pay BioNTech $1.5 billion upfront, $2 billion in non-contingent payments through 2028 and up to $7.6 billion more in milestones for the drug. The companies agreed to split development and manufacturing costs, as well as global profits and losses, on a 50:50 basis.
Competition is building. BioNTech and Bristol Myers are racing in the PD-1/VEGF or PD-L1/VEGF field against Summit Therapeutics and Akeso, Pfizer and 3SBio, and Merck. RBC Capital Markets analyst Trung Huynh wrote that Merck’s early data put it “back in contention,” though the results lacked a “distinctive edge,” BioPharma Dive reported last month. BioPharma Dive
The market has been touchy. wallstreetONLINE reported that BioNTech shares fell 3.69% on May 4, reversing the prior day’s gain, and were down 7.39% over one week at that point despite being higher over one month and year-to-date.
The risk is that clinical timelines do not match the cash burn. BioNTech said in January it did not expect revenue from the sale of oncology products in 2026, even as it aimed for seven late-stage data readouts and 15 Phase 3 trials by year-end. Any weak readout, delay or safety signal would leave the company leaning longer on COVID vaccine revenue and partnership payments.
For now, management is asking investors to look past a smaller vaccine business and judge the company on the next wave of data. The buyback may help the share price narrative, but the harder test is clinical: whether BioNTech can turn its cash pile and Bristol Myers alliance into approved cancer drugs before patience thins.
