The high-flyer of the coronavirus years, Mainz-based company Biontech, has landed hard on the ground. After the end of the pandemic, the biotech company slipped into the red in 2024. Biontech only has one drug on the market thus far – the coronavirus vaccine Comirnaty, which the company developed together with its US partner Pfizer.

Demand for Comirnaty is now falling drastically. In 2021 the vaccine generated almost 19 billion euros for Biontech. In 2024, sales were only 2.75 billion euros. As the Mainz-based company simultaneously increased its expenditure on the research and development of cancer drugs by 26% to 2.25 billion euros, the bottom line is now a hefty minus of 665.3 million euros, after a profit of just under one billion euros in 2023. This is the first time since the pre-coronavirus year of 2019 that Biontech has not made a profit in a financial year.

This result is not surprising. The declining demand for Comirnaty was just as foreseeable as the fact that the development of cancer drugs is more like a long-distance run than a sprint. Nevertheless, the figures were not well received on the stock market. Biontech shares, which are listed on the Nasdaq in New York, fell by almost 4% after the figures were announced.

The company now wants to cut jobs. By the end of 2027, 950 to 1,350 jobs are to be cut in Europe and North America. At the end of 2024, Biontech had around 7,200 employees worldwide. The job cuts will affect the sites in Marburg and Idar-Oberstein, for example. At the same time, staff are to be increased in other areas, including at the headquarters in Mainz. Biontech speaks of a clear commitment to Germany as a business location. The high level of investment, particularly in expensive clinical studies, is also not to be reduced, but rather further expanded. For the current year, revenues are expected to be slightly lower at 1.7 to 2.2 billion euros, with research expenditure totalling 2.6 to 2.8 billion euros. The Mainz-based company will not be short of money any time soon: despite the high loss and the slump in sales, Biontech held a total of 17.4 billion euros at the end of the year.

The company intends to invest in the development of mRNA-based cancer therapies, which are designed to help the immune system recognise and destroy cancer cells. Comirnaty was also developed on the basis of mRNA. Biontech currently has 20 drugs in later clinical trial phases. The Mainz-based company is comparatively advanced in the development of preparations for bladder cancer and the treatment of bowel cancer. Important new study data on the latter is expected at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. In mRNA technology, the focus is on the candidate BNT122. Biontech is trialling the drug, which it developed together with Genentech, a subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, against pancreatic cancer, skin cancer and colorectal cancer. Biontech also has high hopes for a drug candidate called BNT327. This is intended to counteract the effects of tumours that suppress the body's own immune system. The Mainz-based company has secured the global rights to the drug candidate by acquiring the Chinese company Biotheus. According to observers, the drug could compete with Keytruda, currently the best-selling drug of all, with annual sales of 25 billion dollars.

The fight against cancer continues to be one of the most promising growth areas in the healthcare sector. Last year, his company made great progress in this area, CEO Ugur Sahin said recently. Further news that could revolutionise cancer treatments can be expected in the coming months. The first market authorisation should follow in 2026. If Biontech achieves another breakthrough here after its coronavirus vaccine, the share price is likely to go through the roof at least as much as it did during the pandemic. The potential in the fight against cancer, the scourge of humanity, appears even more promising to many observers.

However, investors will have to be patient for some time before this happens. In addition, the development of drugs is never without risks and can quickly turn into a billion-dollar pit. Nevertheless, analysts are largely optimistic about the share. The financial services provider Refinitiv has three recommendations with a „strong buy“ rating and a further 13 with a „buy“ rating. While five analysts vote „hold“, not a single one recommends selling. The share valuation and forecasting service ValuEngine arrives at similar figures (13 strong buy, four hold). Deutsche Bank Research, for example, has left its rating for Biontech at „Buy“ with a target price of 150 dollars, even after the latest figures. UBS, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are somewhat more cautious, calling for price targets of between 115 and 136 dollars. However, despite all the potential, it seems clear that patience is required first.