Status: 09.05.2022 15:23
BioNTech continues to benefit from strong demand for its Corona vaccine. In the first three months of the year alone, the Mainz-based manufacturer made a profit of 3.7 billion euros. It remains unclear when the omicron vaccine will come.
The Corona vaccine Comirnaty brings the Mainz-based manufacturer BioNTech further growing profits. In the first quarter of this year alone, the company generated a plus of 3.7 billion euros. That is more than three times as much as a year ago. At that time, the surplus was 1.1 billion euros.
The increase in sales was similarly strong. Revenue more than tripled – from two billion euros to 6.4 billion euros. CFO Jens Holstein justified the jump in sales and profits with the “Omicron effect”. “Following an increased order volume received in late 2021 due to the emerging Omikron variant, we entered 2022 with strong sales and results,” said Holstein.
Falling sales expected for 2022
For the year as a whole, however, the BioNTech managers expect falling sales, as demand for vaccines is likely to slow down with the easing of corona restrictions. The Mainz-based manufacturer assumes vaccine revenues of 13 to 17 billion euros. For comparison: in 2021 BioNTech achieved sales of almost 19 billion euros and a profit of a good 10.3 billion euros.
BioNTech partner Pfizer also recently confirmed its sales forecast of $32 billion for the vaccine. BioNTech and the US group have signed supply contracts for around 2.4 billion vaccine doses for 2022. Around 2.6 billion cans were delivered in 2021.
When is the Omicron vaccine coming?
An adapted vaccine against the highly contagious omicron variant could give business a new boost. However, it is still unclear when the vaccine will be on the market. BioNTech originally assumed that the Omicron vaccine could be available in the spring. The Mainz-based company announced the first results from the clinical study that began in January in mid-April. Now these should only come in the next few weeks. Regulation is to blame for the delay, said BioNTech boss Ugur Sahin recently.
The European Medicines Agency EMA has asked the pharmaceutical companies not only to develop a so-called monovalent vaccine, i.e. a vaccine specially tailored to Omicron, but also versions that include a combination of variants. The study has since been expanded to include several new cohorts – including one also investigating a broader omicron vaccine that covers the original Wuhan variant.
A Covid vaccine for children under the age of five has not yet been approved. BioNTech expects data from the clinical study in the coming weeks. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach from the SPD does not expect vaccines adapted to new variants until autumn. BioNTech, on the other hand, has offered to make a new, adapted vaccine available in early summer.
Competition from Moderna
The US manufacturer Moderna is also working on a vaccine that is said to be equally effective against omicron and other variants. The US company is developing a so-called “pan vaccine” – as is the German company CureVac and the British partner GSK.
Experts predict a large number of new corona variants that could appear in the coming months. Doctors recently warned at the German Congress of Internal Medicine that there are already numerous sub-variants of omicron.