BioNTech, a renowned German biopharmaceutical company, witnessed a drop in its stock value on Monday as it alerted investors to the possibility of write-downs amounting to €900 million (approximately $947 million). This move mirrors similar announcements made by its partner, Pfizer, regarding their COVID-19 vaccine venture just last week.
Pfizer had revealed on Friday that it would be incurring approximately $900 million in write-offs and other associated charges concerning their jointly developed vaccine, Comirnaty. These additional costs come in addition to more substantial write-offs for Pfizer’s own COVID treatment, Paxlovid, all resulting from a sharp decline in the demand for pandemic-related products.
BioNTech anticipates that, when reporting their third-quarter financial results, they will account for the impact of Pfizer’s inventory write-offs and related charges connected to Comirnaty. This could reach up to €900 million, reflecting BioNTech’s share of the gross profit-sharing agreement with Pfizer.
As a consequence of these developments, BioNTech’s shares tumbled by 7%, reaching a two-month low on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as of 0756 GMT.
BioNTech, which significantly depends on profit-sharing revenue from its U.S. partner related to vaccines, foresees a reduction in its 2023 revenue due to these write-offs. Nevertheless, the company has refrained from offering specific comments regarding its 2023 outlook, which initially anticipated COVID-19 vaccine revenue of about €5 billion.
More detailed financial results for the third quarter are set to be released by BioNTech on November 6.
The company also stated that Pfizer communicated that a major portion of the write-offs pertains to raw materials and older vaccine versions, which are no longer in current use.
