BioNTech bigwigs will step down to form new mRNA company

In a shock move, the co-founders of German mRNA specialist BioNTech – husband and wife team Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci – have said they are leaving to set up a new company.

They are due to leave by the end of this year to set up an as-yet unnamed "independent biotechnology company to research and develop next-generation mRNA innovations," said BioNTech in an update that coincides with its fourth-quarter results update.

The company has been quick to downplay any suggestion that Şahin and Türeci's new business will be a rival, saying that the two companies will have "distinct strategic priorities," and pointing out that BioNTech will provide technologies to support the new biotech and will hold a minority stake in its equity. The board has now launched a search for replacements who can deliver a smooth transition in leadership.

The couple – who are respectively chief executive and chief medical officer of BioNTech – were catapulted to international fame during the COVID-19 pandemic as they worked with Pfizer on mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine Comirnaty which, along with other vaccines, is credited with saving millions of lives.

Under their leadership, and fuelled by massive sales for the vaccine, BioNTech has now been built into an integrated biopharma company with a pipeline that now concentrates mainly on oncology programmes based on immunomodulators, antibody-drug conjugates, and mRNA immunotherapies, and a continuing revenue stream from its COVID-19 shot franchise.

The company's fourth-quarter update emphasises its cancer programmes, with barely a mention of its infectious disease vaccine pipeline, which has seen its priority downgraded of late, as the regulatory climate for vaccines in the US has become more vaccine-averse.

There's little indication yet on the therapeutic areas that the new biotech will address, but Şahin told German newspaper Handelsblatt that its focus would extend beyond cancer.

"Özlem and I are ready to become pioneers once again," he said. "Our vision has always been to translate our science into meaningful advances for patients, and we see extraordinary opportunities to unlock the next generation of transformative innovations."

The announcement came as BioNTech reported 2025 revenues of €2.9 billion, up from €2.8 billion in 2024, with a net loss of €1.1 billion but a strong cash position of €17.2 billion. With the market for COVID-19 vaccines still declining, it is forecasting sales this year will fall to between €2 billion and €2.3 billion.

It is predicting six late-stage data readouts from its cancer pipeline this year, headed by Bristol Myers Squibb-partnered PD-1x VEGF bispecific pumitamig, which is expected to be in eight phase 3 trials by the end of the year.