The business figures of the Mainz-based vaccine developers around Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin made the expected splash: around €10 billion profit on over €19 billion turnover catapulted the company to 680 times the amount reported in 2020. Now the company intends to buy back shares and invest billions in research.

The contract negotiations and delivery agreements indicate similar figures for 2022: together with partner Pfizer, 2.4 billion vaccine doses are to be delivered this year (2021: around 2.6 billion), with an expected sales volume of €13 to €17 billion.

BioNTech now wants to use the money to start a share buyback programme, but also to invest a good € 1.5 billion in research and development, about 50% more than communicated in previous plans. Shareholders were also pleased to receive a special dividend of €2. Together, these two factors led to a current share price increase of several percent. Nevertheless, the current share price is well below the peak of around 450 US dollars at mid-year 2021.

"To continue our industry leadership, we intend to build on our 2021 success and rapidly advance multiple programs, including our mRNA-based immunotherapies, cell therapies, and bi-specific antibodies," Ugur Sahin commented. He added that BioNTech wants to work with Pfizer to advance the development of vaccine candidates for influenza and shingles. "Our core vision remains the foundation for all our activities: harnessing the power of the immune system to improve the health and lives of billions of people worldwide," said the company leader.

The positive effect for the region of Mainz itself was not mentioned this time. At the same time, the strong commitment of state and local politicians to a genuine biotechnology campus already seems to be bearing fruit. For example, Novo Nordisk's German headquarters (already located in Mainz) wants to go ahead with an enlarged new building in Mainz, which will provide more space for the almost 300 local employees. Good times for Mainz.