BioNTech reports 665.3 million euro loss as Covid-19 vaccine sales decline
German biotechnology firm BioNTech reported a loss of 665.3 million euros in 2024 due to falling demand for its Covid-19 vaccine. The company announced its revenue targets for 2025 and stated that it is focusing on developing cancer drugs.
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BioNTech has released its financial data for the final quarter and the full year of 2024. The company, which recorded a net profit of 930.3 million euros in 2023, reported a net loss of 665.3 million euros last year. This marks the first time the company has failed to turn a profit in a fiscal year since 2019.
BioNTech's revenue fell by 27 percent last year compared to the previous year, dropping to 2 billion 751 million euros. The company had generated 3 billion 819 million euros in revenue in 2023. The company's net earnings per share, which stood at 3.83 euros in 2023, turned into a loss of 2.77 euros in 2024.
In its statement, the company noted that the primary reason for the decline in revenue was the drop in income generated from the sale of Covid-19 vaccines worldwide.
The statement added, “In addition, write-downs made by BioNTech's collaboration partner Pfizer Inc. (“Pfizer”) significantly reduced the company's share of gross profit, which negatively impacted revenues.”
The German company aims to achieve sales between 1.7 and 2.2 billion euros this year.
On the other hand, despite the high loss and the decline in sales, BioNTech has sufficient resources to invest in the development of new cancer drugs. According to the company's financial data, BioNTech held a total of 17.4 billion euros in cash and securities at the end of 2024. The company had earned more than 20 billion euros from the sales of the Covid-19 vaccine developed with its US partner Pfizer.
It was noted that BioNTech's research and development expenditures increased from 1.78 billion euros to 2.25 billion euros last year.
BioNTech CEO and Co-Founder Prof. Dr. Uğur Şahin stated that they had made significant progress last year in developing new drugs against cancer, adding, “2025 will be a year in which numerous important data updates from our clinical focus programs will be provided.”
Having shifted its focus to cancer drug development following the Covid-19 pandemic, BioNTech aims to launch its first cancer drug in 2026.