BioNTech vs Pfizer: Founders, CEOs and History
BioNTech was founded in 2008 by Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., Prof. Ozlem Tureci, M.D., Dr. Christoph Huber and is led by Uğur Şahin. Pfizer was founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer, Charles Erhart and is led by Albert Bourla.
Company facts
Founders
BioNTech
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.
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.
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.
Pfizer
Charles Pfizer
Pfizer possesses a historic, immigrant founding story, rooted entirely in the rapid industrial expansion of 19th-century Brooklyn and defined by an effective, intensely meticulous German chemist and his ambitious confectioner cousin.
Charles Erhart
Charles Erhart's role in Pfizer's founding is less celebrated than his cousin's, partly because the company carries Charles Pfizer's name and partly because his commercial contributions were less visible than the scientific achievements that drove the company'…
CEOs and their tenures
BioNTech
- Uğur Şahin2008–present
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Sahin has led BioNTech since its 2008 founding, took it public on Nasdaq in 2019 and directed Project Lightspeed in 2020, which produced Comirnaty with Pfizer.
Source - Özlem Türeci2008–present
Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder
Türeci has run BioNTech's clinical development since 2008, from early mRNA cancer vaccine trials to Comirnaty and the late-stage oncology portfolio. She leaves with Sahin by the end of 2026.
Source - Sean Marett2012–2024
Chief Business and Commercial Officer
Marett joined BioNTech's management in 2012 and helped negotiate its pharma partnerships, including the 2020 Pfizer collaboration on the COVID-19 vaccine.
Source - Ramón Zapata-Gomez2025–present
Chief Financial Officer
Joined from Novartis, where he was CFO of its biomedical research unit, and became CFO on July 1, 2025, succeeding Jens Holstein. He oversaw the 2026 guidance revision and the $1.0 billion ADS buyback launched in May 2026.
Source - Guido Oelkers2027–present
Incoming Chief Executive Officer (takes office by February 1, 2027)
Appointed by the Supervisory Board on August 3, 2026 to succeed Ugur Sahin. Oelkers has more than 30 years in pharma and biotech and has been CEO of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) since 2017.
Source
Pfizer
- Ian Read2010–2018
Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive of Pfizer from 2010 until December 31, 2018; Albert Bourla succeeded him as CEO on January 1, 2019.
Source - Albert Bourla2019–present
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
A veterinarian by training who joined Pfizer Animal Health in 1993, Bourla became CEO on January 1, 2019 and Chairman in 2020.
Source - Dave Denton2022–2026
Chief Financial Officer
Former CVS Health CFO who ran Pfizer finance through the Seagen financing and cost program, leaving on August 15, 2026 for a consumer goods company.
Source - Chris Boshoff2025–present
Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development
Former Chief Oncology Officer who took over all of Pfizer R&D effective January 1, 2025.
Source - Cecile Guegan2026–present
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Previously senior vice president of finance for Pfizer's global biopharmaceuticals business; became interim CFO after Dave Denton left on August 15, 2026.
Source
Timeline: BioNTech and Pfizer side by side
1849Pfizer
Pfizer Founded
Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart founded the company in Brooklyn.
1944Pfizer
Penicillin Scale-Up
Pfizer helped industrialize penicillin production during World War II.
2000Pfizer
Warner-Lambert Deal
Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert, adding Lipitor.
2008BioNTech
BioNTech founded in Mainz
Ugur Sahin, Özlem Türeci and Christoph Huber founded BioNTech in Mainz to develop individualized cancer immunotherapies.
2013BioNTech
Katalin 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.
2019BioNTech
Nasdaq 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.
2020BioNTech
Project 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.
2020BioNTech
First 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.
2020Pfizer
BioNTech COVID Vaccine Partnership
Pfizer and BioNTech brought Comirnaty through emergency authorization.
2021BioNTech
Peak 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.
2023BioNTech
Revenue 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.
2023Pfizer
Seagen Acquisition
Pfizer completed the $43 billion Seagen acquisition.
2024BioNTech
First 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.
2025BioNTech
Bristol 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.
2025BioNTech
CureVac 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.
2025Pfizer
Chris Boshoff Becomes CSO
Chris Boshoff became Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development effective January 1, 2025.
2025Pfizer
Metsera Acquisition
Pfizer completed its acquisition of obesity drug developer Metsera in November 2025 for up to about $10 billion including CVRs.
2025Pfizer
FY2025 Revenue Base
Pfizer reported $62.579 billion of FY2025 revenue.
2026BioNTech
Founders 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.
2026BioNTech
Pandemic-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.
2026Pfizer
Innovent Oncology Collaboration
Pfizer signed a 12-program cancer collaboration with Innovent Biologics: $650 million upfront and up to $9.85 billion in milestones.
Acquisitions
BioNTech
- CureVac N.V.2025$1.3B
- Biotheus Inc.2025$800M
- InstaDeep Ltd.2023Undisclosed
- Kite Pharma solid-tumor TCR platform and Gaithersburg facility2021Undisclosed
- Novartis manufacturing site in Marburg2020Undisclosed
- Neon Therapeutics2020$67M
Pfizer
- Metsera, Inc.2025$7B
- Seagen Inc.2023$43B
- Medivation Inc.2016$14B
- Wyeth2009$68B
- Pharmacia Corporation2003$60B
- Warner-Lambert Company2000$111B
Questions about BioNTech vs Pfizer
Who is the CEO of BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc.?
BioNTech SE is led by Uğur Şahin and Pfizer Inc. is led by Albert Bourla. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was BioNTech SE founded vs Pfizer Inc.?
Pfizer Inc. was founded in 1849 — 159 years before BioNTech SE, which was founded in 2008. Pfizer Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger BioNTech SE.
How many employees does BioNTech SE have compared to Pfizer Inc.?
BioNTech SE employs approximately 7,807 people, while Pfizer Inc. employs approximately 75,000. Pfizer Inc. has the larger workforce at 75,000 employees, compared to BioNTech SE's 7,807. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. headquartered?
BioNTech SE is headquartered in Germany and Pfizer Inc. is headquartered in United States. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc.?
BioNTech SE was founded by Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., Prof. Ozlem Tureci, M.D., Dr. Christoph Huber. Pfizer Inc. was founded by Charles Pfizer, Charles Erhart.
Which company has a longer operating history — BioNTech SE or Pfizer Inc.?
Pfizer Inc. has been operating for approximately 177 years, making it the more established of the two companies. BioNTech SE has been in operation for around 18 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the BioNTech vs Pfizer overview