BioNTech SE
Company History
BioNTech History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2008 in Mainz, Germany
When was BioNTech founded?
BioNTech was founded in 2008 in Mainz, Germany by Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., Prof. Ozlem Tureci, M.D. and Dr. Christoph Huber, making it 18 years old.
- Founded
- 2008
- Founding place
- Mainz, Germany
- Founders
- Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., Prof. Ozlem Tureci, M.D. and Dr. Christoph Huber
- Headquarters today
- Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
- Milestones documented
- 12 (2008–2026)
- Current CEO
- Uğur Şahin
- Acquisitions
- 6
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2008 | BioNTech founded in Mainz |
| 2013 | Katalin Karikó joins as senior vice president |
| 2019 | Nasdaq IPO under ticker BNTX |
| 2020 | Project Lightspeed and the Pfizer partnership |
| 2020 | First authorized mRNA medicine |
| 2021 | Peak year: ~$21.4 billion (€18.98 billion) revenue |
| 2023 | Revenue falls to ~$4.32 billion (€3.82 billion); InstaDeep acquired |
| 2024 | First full-year loss since the pandemic |
| 2025 | Bristol Myers Squibb partnership on pumitamig |
| 2025 | CureVac patent settlement and acquisition |
| 2026 | Founders announce departure; Guido Oelkers named CEO |
| 2026 | Pandemic-era plants to close |
- Where was BioNTech founded?
- BioNTech was founded in Mainz, Germany in 2008. wikidata.org
- Who founded BioNTech?
- BioNTech was founded by Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., Prof. Ozlem Tureci, M.D. and Dr. Christoph Huber.
- When did BioNTech start?
- BioNTech was founded in 2008.
- How old is BioNTech?
- BioNTech is 18 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, both children of Turkish immigrants, met as young doctors at Saarland University Hospital in Homburg and saw standard cancer therapies fail patients whose tumors were genetically unique. While running their first company, antibody developer Ganymed (founded 2001), they founded BioNTech in 2008 with their mentor Christoph Huber and seed money from the Strüngmann twins' family office, MIG Capital and Helmut Jeggle. In late January 2020, after reading about the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Sahin launched Project Lightspeed and redirected the mRNA platform to a vaccine. BioNTech partnered with Pfizer in March 2020, and the vaccine became the first mRNA medicine ever authorized, in the UK on December 2, 2020.
Founders
Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D.
Ugur Sahin co-founded BioNTech in 2008 and has been its chief executive since. Born in Iskenderun, Turkey, he moved to Germany as a child, grew up in Cologne and studied medicine at the University of Cologne. He trained as a hematologist-oncologist, met Özlem Türeci at Saarland University Hospital in Homburg, and became a professor of experimental oncology at the University of Mainz. With Türeci and Christoph Huber he first founded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals in 2001, whose antibody zolbetuximab was later developed by Astellas after it bought Ganymed in 2016. At BioNTech he pushed mRNA as a way to build cancer treatments matched to each patient's tumor. In January 2020 he launched Project Lightspeed, which produced the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine within the year. In March 2026 BioNTech announced that he and Türeci would leave by the end of 2026 to lead a new, separate mRNA company; Guido Oelkers succeeds him as CEO by February 1, 2027. Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D. was born in 1965.
Prof. Ozlem Tureci, M.D.
Özlem Türeci is a co-founder of BioNTech and its Chief Medical Officer. A physician and immunologist born in Germany to a Turkish family, she trained at Saarland University, where she met Ugur Sahin; they married in 2002. Her clinical work with cancer patients shaped BioNTech's founding idea that tumors differ so much between patients that treatment should be tailored to each one. She co-founded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals in 2001 and BioNTech in 2008, and has led clinical development across the company's programs, from early mRNA cancer vaccine trials through the Comirnaty studies and the current oncology pipeline. She and Sahin received the German Future Prize in 2021 with Katalin Karikó and Christoph Huber. In March 2026 BioNTech announced that Türeci and Sahin would leave by the end of 2026 to run a new company developing next-generation mRNA medicines.
Dr. Christoph Huber
Christoph Huber is an Austrian hematologist-oncologist and co-founder of BioNTech. As head of hematology and oncology at the University of Mainz he mentored Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, and he co-founded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals with them in 2001. Ganymed developed zolbetuximab, a CLDN18.2 antibody for gastric and gastroesophageal cancers, and was acquired by Astellas Pharma in 2016. Huber brought experience in clinical immunotherapy and translational research to BioNTech's founding in 2008, helping set up its early clinical work in Mainz. He has kept a lower public profile than Sahin and Türeci, but shared the 2021 German Future Prize with them and Katalin Karikó for the work behind the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
BioNTech founded in Mainz
Ugur Sahin, Özlem Türeci and Christoph Huber founded BioNTech in Mainz to develop individualized cancer immunotherapies. Seed money of about $203 million (€180 million) came from the Strüngmann twins' family office, MIG Capital and Helmut Jeggle, who later became chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgKatalin Karikó joins as senior vice president
Biochemist Katalin Karikó, whose work on nucleoside-modified mRNA reduced unwanted immune reactions to synthetic RNA, joined BioNTech. She shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Drew Weissman for that research.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgNasdaq IPO under ticker BNTX
BioNTech listed American Depositary Shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in October 2019, pricing at $15 per ADS and raising $150 million, about three months before the first reports of the novel coronavirus.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgProject Lightspeed and the Pfizer partnership
In late January 2020 Ugur Sahin redirected BioNTech's mRNA platform to a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine under Project Lightspeed. In March 2020 BioNTech agreed to co-develop the vaccine with Pfizer, which brought global trial, manufacturing and distribution capacity.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFirst authorized mRNA medicine
On December 2, 2020 the UK regulator authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (BNT162b2, later branded Comirnaty), the first mRNA medicine cleared for use anywhere. The U.S. FDA granted emergency use authorization on December 11, 2020, and full approval for people 16 and older followed on August 23, 2021.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgPeak year: ~$21.4 billion (€18.98 billion) revenue
Comirnaty sales lifted BioNTech's FY2021 revenue to ~$21.4 billion (€18.98 billion) and net profit to ~$11.6 billion (€10.29 billion), compared with ~$545 million (€482.3 million) of revenue a year earlier.
Source: sec.govRevenue falls to ~$4.32 billion (€3.82 billion); InstaDeep acquired
As COVID-19 vaccination became seasonal, FY2023 revenue fell 77.9% to ~$4.32 billion (€3.82 billion), though BioNTech stayed profitable with ~$1.05 billion (€930.3 million) of net income. In January 2023 it agreed to buy London-based AI company InstaDeep to support neoantigen prediction and drug design.
Source: sec.govFirst full-year loss since the pandemic
FY2024 revenue fell to ~$3.11 billion (€2.75 billion) and BioNTech posted a ~$752 million (€665.3 million) net loss as R&D spending of ~$2.54 billion (€2.25 billion) went mostly to oncology. In November 2024 it agreed to buy Biotheus for full rights to the PD-L1xVEGF-A bispecific BNT327, later named pumitamig.
Source: sec.govBristol Myers Squibb partnership on pumitamig
In June 2025 Bristol Myers Squibb agreed to co-develop and co-commercialize pumitamig, paying $1.5 billion upfront plus $2 billion in non-contingent anniversary payments through 2028, with up to $7.6 billion more in milestones.
Source: pharmaceuticalcommerce.comCureVac patent settlement and acquisition
In August 2025 BioNTech and Pfizer settled U.S. mRNA patent litigation with CureVac and GSK for an aggregate $740 million plus single-digit royalties on U.S. COVID-19 vaccine sales. BioNTech then acquired CureVac in an all-stock deal that closed on December 18, 2025.
Source: biontech.comFounders announce departure; Guido Oelkers named CEO
On March 10, 2026 BioNTech said Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci would leave by the end of 2026 to lead a new company focused on next-generation mRNA. On August 3, 2026 the Supervisory Board appointed Sobi CEO Guido Oelkers as BioNTech CEO, taking office by February 1, 2027 at the latest.
Source: biontech.comPandemic-era plants to close
On September 28, 2026 BioNTech said it would close its Tübingen, Marburg and Idar-Oberstein sites in Germany and a site in Singapore after failing to find buyers, affecting up to 1,860 jobs and handing all COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing to Pfizer.
Source: fiercepharma.comMajor Acquisitions
CureVac N.V.
2025BioNTech bought its Tübingen-based mRNA rival in an all-stock exchange offer to add CureVac's mRNA design, delivery and manufacturing know-how and its patent estate, months after settling U.S. patent litigation with CureVac and GSK.
Biotheus Inc.
2025BioNTech acquired the Chinese antibody developer to secure full global rights to BNT327 (PM8002, now pumitamig), a bispecific antibody combining PD-L1 checkpoint inhibition with VEGF-A neutralization, plus Biotheus's antibody discovery platform.
InstaDeep Ltd.
2023BioNTech bought the London-based AI and machine-learning company, in which it already held a stake, to bring computational capabilities in-house for neoantigen prediction, mRNA design and drug discovery.
Kite Pharma solid-tumor TCR platform and Gaithersburg facility
2021BioNTech acquired Gilead subsidiary Kite's solid-tumor neoantigen T-cell receptor discovery platform and its manufacturing facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to expand its cell therapy work in the United States.
Novartis manufacturing site in Marburg
2020BioNTech bought the Marburg, Germany, biologics plant from Novartis in September 2020 to produce mRNA for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Neon Therapeutics
2020BioNTech acquired the Cambridge, Massachusetts neoantigen T-cell therapy company in an all-stock deal to add a U.S. R&D presence and neoantigen expertise.
Keep researching BioNTech
BioNTech Company History FAQ
What are the major historical milestones of BioNTech?
BioNTech's history spans its 2008 founding in Mainz, mRNA platform optimization and first human clinical trials (2008 to 2018), 2019 NASDAQ IPO, execution of Project Lightspeed and approval of Comirnaty (2020), multi-billion-dollar global scaling (2021 to 2022), and major clinical oncology expansion (2023, present).
How did Project Lightspeed develop the first COVID-19 vaccine in under a year?
Initiated on January 25, 2020, Project Lightspeed mobilized over 500 BioNTech scientists, entered clinical trials in April 2020, partnered with Pfizer in March 2020, and secured FDA emergency use authorization on December 11, 2020, completing a historically 10-year process in just 11 months.
When did BioNTech and Pfizer receive historic full FDA approval for Comirnaty?
On August 23, 2021, the US FDA granted full Biologics License Application (BLA) approval to Comirnaty for individuals 16 years of age and older, making it the first fully approved mRNA therapeutic in human history.
How did BioNTech break ground on its first African mRNA manufacturing facility?
In June 2022, BioNTech broke ground on its first modular mRNA manufacturing facility in Kigali, Rwanda, inaugurating its first BioNTainer units in 2023 to provide sustainable, localized vaccine production for the African continent.
When did BioNTech announce landmark Phase 1 trial results for pancreatic cancer vaccines?
In May 2023, BioNTech published landmark Phase 1 clinical trial results in *Nature*, demonstrating that its individualized mRNA vaccine (autogene cevumeran) induced durable neoantigen-specific T-cell responses in 50% of surgically resected pancreatic cancer patients, correlating with delayed cancer recurrence.
What changed at BioNTech in 2026?
In March 2026 BioNTech said co-founders Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci would leave by the end of 2026 to run a new mRNA company. In August it named Sobi CEO Guido Oelkers as the next CEO, and in September it said it would close four pandemic-era manufacturing sites.
What was BioNTech's agreement with the UK government?
In January 2023 BioNTech and the UK government agreed a strategic partnership aiming to provide up to 10,000 patients with personalized mRNA cancer immunotherapies by 2030, through clinical trials or as approved treatments.
What is BioNTech's goal for 2030?
BioNTech aims to become a multi-product oncology company by 2030. In August 2026 it had 14 ongoing pivotal trials, and it plans a 2026 regulatory filing for the HER2 antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab pamirtecan with Duality Biologics.
When was BioNTech founded?
BioNTech was founded in 2008 in Mainz, Germany to focus on highly personalized mRNA cancer immunotherapies, long before they pivoted to create the world's first authorized COVID-19 vaccine in 2020.
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