Sales and profits down sharply at BioNTech

The German drugs firm, which developed its Covid vaccine with US giant Pfizer, reported total revenues of €3.46bn in the third quarter, down from €6.09bn a year previously. Net profits fell to €1.78bn from €3.21bn, while diluted earnings per share slid to €6.98 from €12.35.

The firm noted: "As expected, the course of the pandemic remains dynamic, and led to fluctuations in quarterly revenues."

In the first nine months of the year, revenues eased to €13.03bn from €13.44bn while net profits edged higher, to €7.16bn from €7.13bn.

Ugur Sahin, chief executive and co-founder, said: "We are working to leverage this experience and apply the lessons learned from the development of the Omicron-adapted vaccines to other disease areas and product candidates.

"The next chapter of BioNTech’s evolution is becoming tangible. We continue to expand our Covid-19 vaccine and infectious disease portfolio and advance our oncology pipeline."

Looking ahead, BioNTech said it now expects full-year Covid-19 vaccine revenues to come in between €16bn and €17bn in 2022, from an earlier wider forecast for between €13bn and €17bn. Last year, vaccine revenues were €19bn.

The firm said the updated guidance reflected the shipment of Omicron-adapted bivalent vaccine boosters, which started in September and is expected to continue through the fourth quarter, alongside higher prices and positive foreign currency effects.

As at 1315 GMT, BioNTech’s New York-listed shares were down 2% in pre-market trading.