Mainz-based company BioNTech, which gained global notoriety amid the COVID-19 pandemic for its work on one of the first mRNA coronavirus vaccines, has announced drastic restructuring plans.
The company is completely shutting down its Covid vaccine production, leaving the responsibility for further production to American partner Pfizer.
“During this year we will produce the last doses here in Germany,” a company spokesman told Reuters news agency.
What is closing and how many jobs could be at risk?
Amid the restructuring, the company is closing production centers in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg, Singapore in Asia, and another German facility in Tübingen belonging to CureVac rival company that BioNTech is set to fully take over in late 2025 after a lengthy acquisition process.
The company said the closure should be completed by the end of 2027, and it would look into the possibility of selling the affected facilities.
BioNTech said last year it would cut 950 to 1,350 full-time jobs over the next two years — it’s unclear how many it has already cut. The company says a total of 1,860 jobs could be affected amid the extended restructuring.
Why is BioNTech currently moving away from COVID treatments and toward cancer research, at huge cost?
BioNTech said it was responding to a significant decline in demand for COVID vaccines. For a brief period at the height of the pandemic, these were recommended to almost anyone for routine renewals, but now they are given primarily to the elderly and other high-risk people.
In Germany, BioNTech plans to keep its main base in Mainz, with office facilities only in Berlin and Munich. The company plans to focus its attention primarily on research on the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
The company reported revenue of €118.1 million (about $138 million) in the first quarter of this year, compared with €182.8 in the same period in 2025.
Meanwhile, its net loss for the year widened to €531.9 million. These costs were attributed to investments in research and developmental costs – not least for an antibody called Pumitamig, which the company hopes may have multiple uses in cancer treatment and which is currently in global Phase 2 trials.
BioNTech founders Ugur Sahin and Izlem Tureci announced in March that they were stepping down to start a new venture.
Edited by: Alex Berry