BioNTech Turns a Profit: Is the Founding Couple Saying Goodbye?

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents BioNTech Turns a Profit: Is the Founding Couple Saying Goodbye.

The most important number is at the very top: BioNTech generated a net profit of EUR 184.5 million in the third quarter of 2026. A year earlier, the company had recorded a loss of EUR 28.7 million during the same period. The news therefore sounds clearly positive. At the same time, a major staff cutback is imminent: Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci will leave the company by the end of 2026.

BioNTech's quarterly results and its overall financial position tell two different stories. In the third quarter, it posted a profit of EUR 184.5 million. For the first nine months of the 2026 financial year, however, the company still reported a loss of EUR 1.17 billion. The comparison with the same period a year earlier makes the gap clear: The loss then amounted to EUR 831.1 million.

Why the quarter is suddenly in the black

EUR 184.5 million instead of a EUR 28.7 million loss

BioNTech generated revenue of EUR 1.29 billion in the third quarter. In the same quarter of the previous year, revenue was EUR 1.52 billion, around EUR 230 million more. Back then, however, BioNTech also benefited from payments by the US pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb. Revenue is lower today, but the net result is still significantly better.

A direct comparison of the net figures must therefore take the different business bases into account. The current profit of EUR 184.5 million represents clear progress compared with the loss of the previous year. It does not, however, make the first nine months profitable: According to the company, a loss of EUR 1.17 billion remains for that period.

The strongest counterpoint to the headline figure of a “profit” is therefore: One quarter does not turn a nine-month loss into a profitable financial year. Conversely, it would be just as inaccurate to ignore the positive quarter. Between the EUR 28.7 million loss of the previous year and the current EUR 184.5 million profit, there has been a comprehensible turnaround within a single quarter.

Revenue Forecast Rises Mainly at the Lower End

EUR 1.7 billion to EUR 1.9 billion for 2026

Chief Financial Officer Ramón Zapata said in connection with the third quarter that business performance allowed the company to narrow its 2026 revenue forecast to the upper end of the range. Previously, BioNTech had forecast EUR 1.6 billion to EUR 1.9 billion. The new range now begins at EUR 1.7 billion; the upper limit remains unchanged at EUR 1.9 billion.

The adjustment is therefore tangible but limited: The lower bound rises by EUR 100 million, while the maximum remains unchanged. Together with the quarterly profit, this signals greater operational confidence. The nine-month figures show, however, why BioNTech still cannot consider the full financial year complete.

It is also striking how profoundly the business has shifted within a single year. The company reports massive spending on research and development, particularly for cancer therapies. At the same time, the business with Covid-19 vaccines has shrunk sharply. BioNTech is affected by both factors at once: On the one hand, new development costs are being incurred; on the other, an important source of revenue is disappearing.

Three Sites to Close by the End of 2028

Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Tübingen: Around 1,800 employees

BioNTech has announced the closure of three sites this year. Operations in Tübingen are due to end in late 2027, followed by Marburg in early 2028 and Idar-Oberstein at the end of 2028. According to the company, the closures will affect around 1,800 employees in total.

The dates spread the cutback over a little more than a year. Tübingen is affected first, followed by Marburg and finally Idar-Oberstein. This schedule matches information that the company needs to save money in some areas while simultaneously investing large sums in research and development.

BioNTech's picture therefore becomes more concrete. The third quarter was financially positive, while the first nine months were not. At the same time, the company is restructuring its sites and focusing its resources more strongly on cancer therapies. The closures therefore concern more than a secondary matter: They are part of the economic restructuring reflected in the quarterly figures.

Sahin and Türeci Move to Mainz with Arife

By the end of 2026 at the latest: Departure from the existing company

Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, the two co-founders, will leave BioNTech by the end of this year. Their new company will be called Arife, will also be based in Mainz, and will focus on researching and developing as well as manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical products.

BioNTech and Arife are holding talks about whether rights and mRNA technologies from BioNTech will be brought into the new company. The draft names a minority stake in Arife and licensing fees as a possible form of compensation. According to the company, there is no binding agreement. The talks are continuing, and an agreement would be optional for both sides.

It is therefore certain that the founders are leaving the existing company. What remains unclear, however, is how closely the two companies will be connected in future. For BioNTech, a minority stake in Arife combined with licensing fees would provide an additional link to technology and product development. Such a deal has not been approved, however, and is merely one possibility currently under negotiation by both sides.

Research remains the largest cost block, while oncology is the company's most important development area. Pumitamig, the drug candidate developed jointly with Bristol Myers Squibb, also provides a concrete reference point for BioNTech's business development. The third quarter shows a significant profit in this environment for the first time, while the three-year loss and the announced site closures make the cost of the planned restructuring clearly visible.