BioNTech was founded in Mainz, Germany, in 2008 by physicians Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci and oncologist Christoph Huber. Their goal was to use messenger RNA to teach a patient's immune system to recognize that patient's own tumor. For more than a decade the company had no approved product and was funded by the Strüngmann family office, MIG Capital, grants and pharma partnerships.
Project Lightspeed and Comirnaty
In late January 2020 Sahin redirected the mRNA platform to the new coronavirus. BioNTech partnered with Pfizer in March 2020, and on December 2, 2020 the UK authorized their vaccine, the first mRNA medicine cleared anywhere. Comirnaty lifted BioNTech's revenue to ~$21.4 billion (€18.98 billion) and net profit to ~$11.6 billion (€10.29 billion) in 2021.
From vaccine windfall to oncology
As demand fell, revenue dropped to ~$4.32 billion (€3.82 billion) in 2023 and ~$3.11 billion (€2.75 billion) in 2024, when BioNTech posted a ~$752 million (€665.3 million) net loss. The company put its cash into cancer drugs: it bought Biotheus for pumitamig, a PD-L1xVEGF-A bispecific antibody now shared with Bristol Myers Squibb, licensed antibody-drug conjugates from Duality Biologics, and acquired mRNA rival CureVac in December 2025.
BioNTech in 2026
FY2025 revenue was ~$3.24 billion (€2.87 billion) with a ~$1.29 billion (€1.14 billion) net loss, and in August 2026 BioNTech cut its 2026 revenue guidance to €1.6-1.9 billion. The founders leave by the end of 2026 to run a new mRNA company, Sobi CEO Guido Oelkers takes over by February 1, 2027, and four pandemic-era plants are closing by 2028. With ~$18.8 billion (€16.6 billion) in cash and securities and 14 pivotal trials underway, the next phase depends on whether its cancer drugs succeed in Phase 3.
