By Mackenzie Tatananni

Just months after abruptly announcing the departure of its co-founders, BioNTech unveiled even more changes as the German drugmaker struggles to redefine itself in a post-pandemic market.

BioNTech said Tuesday that it would shutter some manufacturing facilities in Germany and Singapore and eliminate 1,860 positions, or nearly a quarter of its workforce, in a bid to cut costs.

The drugmaker expects annual cost savings to reach EUR500 million ($584.6 million) by 2029. These savings will increase gradually and may involve selling some or all of its manufacturing sites, BioNTech said.

The announcement adds fresh uncertainty to a company already in flux. At the time of its last earnings report in March, BioNTech revealed that its husband-and-wife founder duo, CEO Ugur Sahin and Chief Medical Ozlem Tureci, would depart by year's end.

First-quarter earnings did little to assuage investor concerns. U.S.-listed shares slid 2.1% on Tuesday after falling more sharply in premarket trading. The benchmark S&P 500 was up 0.7%.

BioNTech, perhaps best known as a collaborator with Pfizer on the Comirnaty vaccine, has seen its Covid revenue shrink over time. Pfizer's latest earnings report showed that blockbusters like Eliquis and recently launched drugs more than made up for that shortfall.

However, a seasonal drop in Covid vaccine demand weighed on BioNTech's top line. Revenue fell to 118.1 million euros from 182.8 million euros last year, sharply missing analysts' calls for 179.5 million euros. The drugmaker's net loss widened to 531.9 million euros from a loss of 415.8 million euros in 2025.

BioNTech aims to regain investor trust by doubling down on its cancer-drug pipeline and accelerating the path to market for new treatments. Sahin asserted that the company "made substantial progress" in executing towards its oncology strategy, citing data readouts from its pumitamig program.

Pumitamig is a bi-specific antibody developed in collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb to address solid tumors. The molecule targets two different pathways to simultaneously starve tumors and boost the immune system.

Investors are likely awaiting next major update at the ASCO Annual Meeting later this month, where BioNTech is expected to present trial data comparing a pumitamig-and-chemotherapy combination to the efficacy of Merck's Keytruda and chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

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May 05, 2026 09:54 ET (13:54 GMT)

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