BioNTech Navigates a Flurry of Shifts: Factory Closures, Board Expansion, and a New EU Pharma Law

BioNTech is undergoing a radical metamorphosis, and the pace of change this week has been relentless. The German biotech, best known for its COVID-19 vaccine, is simultaneously closing production sites, enlarging its supervisory board, and bracing for the departure of its founding scientists — all while a new European law aims to strengthen domestic pharma manufacturing. The interplay of these forces is reshaping the company’s near-term outlook.

EU negotiators on Tuesday struck a deal on the Critical Medicines Act, designed to slash Europe’s reliance on drug ingredients from China and India, which currently supply an estimated 80–90% of active substances used in the bloc. Under the new rules, public tenders will no longer hinge solely on the lowest price; instead, supply security and European production capacity must be weighted equally. At least half of active ingredients for critical medicines should ideally come from within the EU, and strategic projects will get fast-track permits and access to EU funding. Formal approval by Parliament and Council is still pending.

Yet BioNTech’s own moves run counter to that spirit. The company is shuttering its production facility in Marburg, affecting around 540 jobs, and will also abandon the former CureVac site in Tübingen. The rationale is a reallocation of resources: capacity from the dwindling COVID-19 vaccine business is being redeployed to its oncology pipeline. While strategically defensible, the closures hit locations that might otherwise have benefited from the new EU framework.

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At the same time, BioNTech’s supervisory board is being overhauled to reflect the pivot to cancer therapy. Shareholders at Friday’s annual general meeting will vote on expanding the board from six to eight members, adding two specialists in oncology and clinical development. The restructuring comes as founders Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci prepare to exit the company by the end of 2026 to pursue their own mRNA project — a move that sent the stock sliding 18% in March.

Financially, the transition is painful. The company posted a net loss of roughly €532 million in the first quarter, on revenue of just €118 million. Still, management is sticking to its full-year revenue forecast of between €2 billion and €2.3 billion. A dividend is off the table; instead, the board proposes carrying forward the entire retained profit of nearly €6.9 billion to fund R&D. A share buyback programme of up to $1 billion has also been authorised, set to run over the coming months.

Analysts, however, remain cautious. Berenberg cut its price target on BioNTech from $155 to $140, while maintaining a Buy rating. The bank cited persistent pressure on the core COVID vaccine business, but argued the stock is “significantly undervalued” relative to the oncology pipeline and the strong balance sheet. The shares currently trade at around €79.85 — roughly 21% below the 52-week high and about 3% lower year-to-date. That leaves Berenberg’s new target at a substantial premium, but bridging that gap depends on how quickly clinical data from the oncology candidates can gain momentum.

Shareholders will also vote on Friday to authorise new capital of approximately €129 million, exactly half of the current share capital, providing financial firepower for the broader transformation. With the founder exit looming and a handful of cancer therapies targeted for market entry by 2030, the boardroom expansion and restructuring programme are laying the groundwork for a post-COVID, post-founder era. Whether the market will endorse that vision — and how soon — remains the central question.

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