The founders of German vaccine manufacturer BioNTech, which became famous worldwide for its coronavirus jab, are to step down to start a new business, the company said on Tuesday.
Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci will leave by the end of 2026 at the latest, when their employment contracts expire.
Their new biotechnology company will focus on developing the next generation of mRNA-based drugs.
However, the couple intend to remain shareholders in BioNTech, currently holding around 15% of the company’s shares, the Mainz-based company said.
Sahin and Türeci founded BioNTech in 2008 with the aim of developing mRNA-based cancer therapies.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the company quickly put all its resources into developing an mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 and proved successful.
BioNTech won the race against a number of competitors and, together with its US partner Pfizer, received the first market approval for a coronavirus vaccine.
The company subsequently earned billions of euros and expanded rapidly, while Sahin and Türeci received numerous prestigious awards, including the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2021.
Years after the pandemic, BioNTech’s profits and sales have shrunk significantly, and although the coronavirus vaccine business continues, the focus has long since returned to research into mRNA therapies for cancer and other diseases.
Hopes for the future rest on several late-stage clinical trials for cancer drugs. BioNTech is aiming to submit several applications for approval of oncology therapies by 2030.
