BioNTech to close Germany and Singapore sites, cutting up to 1,860 jobs

BioNTech is dismantling a large part of its pandemic-era manufacturing footprint, closing sites in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg, Tuebingen and Singapore and putting up to 1,860 jobs at risk as the company pushes further toward an oncology-led model. The German vaccine maker said Singapore operations are expected to wind down in the first quarter of 2027, while the German sites are planned to exit by the end of 2027. BioNTech said it is exploring partial or total sales of the affected sites, underscoring that the cuts are as much about reshaping the business as shrinking it.

The closures come as production of BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine shifts to partner Pfizer this year, a reminder of how quickly the market that powered the company’s rise has faded. BioNTech reported first-quarter revenue of 118.1 million euros and a net loss of 531.9 million euros, wider than the 416 million-euro loss a year earlier. Shares fell after the announcement, reflecting investor unease over both the job losses and the challenge of replacing pandemic revenue with a steadier long-term growth engine.

BioNTech is trying to reassure investors even as it cuts back. The company ended March with 16.8 billion euros in cash, cash equivalents and security investments, and it reaffirmed full-year 2026 financial guidance. It also said it plans to buy back up to $1 billion of its shares over the next 12 months, a sign that management wants to signal confidence in the balance sheet while it trims headcount and changes how it operates.

The company is not pulling back from research. BioNTech reaffirmed a 2026 research and development budget of 2.2 billion euros to 2.5 billion euros and said five additional pivotal trials for pumitamig were initiated during 2026 with Bristol Myers Squibb. It expects six late-stage readouts across immunomodulators, antibody-drug conjugates and mRNA cancer immunotherapies, a pipeline that shows where the next phase of the company’s growth story is supposed to come from.

The restructuring builds on an earlier plan dated March 10, 2025, when BioNTech outlined 950 to 1,350 full-time position cuts worldwide by the end of 2027, with Marburg and Idar-Oberstein especially affected and about 350 new jobs expected in Mainz. BioNTech’s latest move suggests the post-vaccine reset is now entering a more difficult phase: the company still has the cash to fund science, but the jobs created by COVID demand are proving far harder to preserve.