Demand for coronavirus vaccines is falling, and the pharma company BioNTech is facing a severe financial crisis as a result.
According to several reputable German newspapers, including Die Zeit and Handelsblatt, BioNTech is facing a massive loss in the second quarter. Katalin Karikó, the first Hungarian female Nobel Prize winner, was previously vice-chairman of the company for nine years.
According to the company, the second quarter deficit was €807.8 million, which is much higher than the €190.4 million loss in the same period last year. In the first half of the year, the net loss amounted to €1.12 billion.
BioNTech felt the end of the coronavirus epidemic “firsthand” at the end of last year with the consequent drop in demand for anti-virus vaccines. This is one of the reasons why the Mainz-based company is increasingly focusing on the development of cancer drugs, with the aim of having its first such drugs on the market by 2026.
BioNTech attributed the second quarter loss to a drop in demand for Covid vaccines and the fact that demand is becoming increasingly seasonal. However, the Mainz-based company has already started marketing a vaccine against Covid-19 adapted for the 2024/2025 vaccination season. It has the necessary approvals in the EU and the UK, while the application for approval has been initiated in more than 40 other countries.
According to the company’s CFO Jens Holstein, BioNTech will focus on its long-term growth strategy for the remainder of the 2024 financial year, including the continuation of ongoing clinical studies. These, he stressed, will focus on the development of multiple cancer vaccines and combination vaccines, as well as building manufacturing capacity.
In the area of combined vaccines, he mentioned the development of a vaccine against both Covid-19 and influenza.
