German company BioNTech is shedding much of its manufacturing footprint, potentially cutting 1,860 jobs in the process, as part of an effort to reallocate resources to the growing oncology field in the face of declining sales of COVID-19 vaccines.
BioNTech announced on Tuesday that the company plans to exit its manufacturing sites in Singapore, the German cities of Idar-Oberstein and Marburg, as well as the former headquarters of its CureVac subsidiary in Tübingen, Germany.
BioNTech plans to exit its three locations in Germany by the end of 2027, and its Singapore operations are scheduled to close in the first quarter of the year. Vaccine makers are “exploring divestiture options” for each, including a partial or full sale, it added.
“BioNTech plans to further adjust and consolidate its manufacturing network in the event of anticipated excess capacity due to evolving supply needs, mergers and acquisitions, the manufacturing capabilities of BioNTech’s partners, and contract completions,” the company said in its first-quarter earnings press release.
BioNTech said each site on the list is expected to become “underutilized or idle” within the next 24 months, meaning the closures will not impact supply or contractual obligations. The closure of the Singapore facility was reported last month, with a spokesperson calling the move an effort to “align our clinical portfolio with our long-term strategic direction and capabilities.”
The move signals a shift away from manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines, which has been the mainstay of BioNTech’s revenue, to future plans focused on oncology. By 2029, the manufacturing change is expected to generate annual recurring savings of approximately 500 million euros ($585 million), which the company will use to further advance its oncology pipeline toward commercialization.
In the first quarter, BioNTech posted a loss of 531.9 million euros ($622 million), compared with total revenue of 118.1 million euros ($138.2 million). The decrease in revenue, compared to sales of 182.8 million euros in the first quarter of 2025, was related to lower revenue from the coronavirus vaccine Komilnati, in partnership with Pfizer.
BioNTech aims for 2026 revenue of between 2 billion euros and 2.3 billion euros, as revenue declines in the United States and Europe are expected to continue due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company reported revenue from sales of COVID-19 vaccines last year of 2.9 billion euros, an increase of 4%.
The expected drop in vaccine sales in Germany will be the biggest hit to the company’s 2026 earnings. That’s because BioNTech recognizes Cominati’s direct sales in its home country, rather than splitting profits 50-50 with Pfizer in all other markets.
All of this comes as the company’s board of directors continues its search for CEOs to replace co-founder Ugur Şahin, MD, and his wife, co-founder and chief medical officer Ozlem Tureci, MD, who are expected to retire by the end of the year. The two will separate from BioNTech and establish a new company 18 years after its establishment in 2008. The company will utilize BioNTech’s mRNA technology for “next generation mRNA innovation” and will be licensed on an “arm’s length basis” in exchange for a minority stake in the new company and milestone and royalty payments.
Gone is the co-founder who oversaw BioNTech’s meteoric rise from a small business to a vaccine giant through the pandemic, and under new leadership the company will strive to become a “multi-product company by 2030.”
The company has several late-stage oncology programs in development and plans to continue “expanding its operations toward late-stage development and commercialization in oncology” while “containing costs,” the company said in a first-quarter release.
It added that BioNTech may “continue to evaluate appropriate corporate development opportunities.”
