BioNTech SE cut its forecast for this year’s COVID-19 vaccine sales by 20%, the latest among drugmakers forced to adjust as the world moves on from the pandemic.
Vaccine sales will probably reach about €4 billion ($4.3 billion), compared with an initial prediction of €5 billion, the German company said Monday. The forecast is less than what analysts were expecting. The revision includes about €600 million in knock-on impact due to write-offs by partner Pfizer Inc.
Pfizer and vaccine rival Moderna Inc. have both reined in expectations for Covid-related sales in recent weeks. The pandemic shots were both Moderna’s and BioNTech’s first products to market, and the biotechs have used the Covid windfall to fund their wide-ranging pipelines of experimental drugs.
Unlike Moderna, however, BioNTech beat expectations for third-quarter profit, reporting diluted earnings per share of 67 cents. Analysts had predicted a loss. The company was able to turn a profit because of its focus on sharing costs with Pfizer and other big pharmaceutical partners, Chief Financial Officer Jens Holstein said in an e-mailed statement.
The US depositary receipts rose 1.8% in premarket trading. They have lost more than a third of their value this year.
BioNTech said it will trim spending this year on research and development by roughly another 10% and cut its maximum capital expenditures budget by one-third.
