BERLIN — BioNTech, which has partnered with Pfizer to develop a powerful COVID-19 vaccine, reported higher revenue and net profit in the first half of the year and expects demand to grow as it releases updated vaccines to target new omicron strains. .
The German pharmaceutical company said on Monday that revenue reached 9.57 billion euros ($9.76 billion) in the first six months of 2022, up from nearly 7.36 billion euros in the same period a year earlier. But revenue fell to about €3.2bn in the second quarter from €5.31bn in April to June last year.
BioNTech said the dynamic nature of the pandemic has caused changes in orders and revenue, but it expects a strong end to the year. It said it plans to roll out renewed vaccines tailored to the latest omicron variants starting in October, which could lead to a fall booster campaign.
“With our initiatives around variant-tailored COVID-19 vaccine candidates, we expect increased demand in our key markets in Q4 2022, subject to regulatory approval,” said Jens Holstein, CFO of BioNTech, in a press release. release.
Moderna, another major COVID-19 vaccine maker, is also working on updated versions of its vaccines to launch this fall.
BioNTech expects to report revenue of €13 billion to €17 billion from COVID-19 vaccines this year.
The German company’s net profit was also higher in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2021 (€5.37 billion vs. €3.92 billion) and lower in the second quarter (€1.67 billion vs. €2.79 billion). millions of euros).
For partner Pfizer, sales of the COVID-19 vaccine and treatment in the second quarter propelled the pharmaceutical giant to the highest quarterly sales in its history. He said last month that he made $9.9 billion between April and June.