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BioNTech Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results and Corporate Update | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
By: GlobeNewswire - 20 Mar 2024 | Back to overview list |
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Conference call and webcast scheduled for March 20, 2024, at 8:00 a.m. ET (1:00 p.m. CET)
MAINZ, Germany, March 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX, “BioNTech” or “the Company”) today reported financial results for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2023, and provided an update on its corporate progress. “2023 was another year of good performance for BioNTech. We have maintained our leading position in the COVID-19 vaccine market which lays the foundation for establishing a sustainable respiratory vaccines business. In oncology, we have strengthened our core competencies by entering into several partnerships and have made numerous clinical advances. Today, our oncology pipeline encompasses multiple candidates in mid- and late-stage clinical development, including investigational ADCs, mRNA vaccines and innovative immunotherapies,” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech. “Our goal is to achieve product approvals in ten oncological indications by 2030 and with this improve the treatment options for patients around the globe.” Financial Review for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results
Total revenues reported were €1,479.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to €4,278.3 million for the comparative prior year period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, total revenues were €3,819.0 million, compared to €17,310.6 million for the comparative prior year period. Inventory write-downs by BioNTech's collaboration partner Pfizer, Inc. (“Pfizer”) reduced BioNTech's revenues by €291.3 million and €906.7 million for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023, respectively. Cost of sales were €179.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to €183.5 million for the comparative prior year period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, cost of sales were €599.8 million, compared to €2,995.0 million for the comparative prior year period. The change was mainly caused by the decrease in COVID-19 vaccine sales. Research and development (R&D) expenses were €577.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to €509.8 million for the comparative prior year period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, research and development expenses were €1,783.1 million, compared to €1,537.0 million for the comparative prior year period. R&D expenses are mainly influenced by progressing clinical studies for pipeline candidates as well as by our newly acquired product candidates and the development of variant-adapted COVID-19 vaccines. The increase was further driven by an increase in wages, benefits and social security expenses resulting from an increase in headcount. General and administrative (G&A) expenses reached €124.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to €119.9 million for the comparative prior year period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, G&A expenses were €495.0 million, compared to €481.7 million for the comparative prior year period. G&A expenses were mainly influenced by increased expenses for IT services as well as by wages, benefits and social security expenses resulting from an increase in headcount. Income taxes were accrued in an amount of €205.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to €893.9 million accrued for the comparative prior year period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, income taxes were accrued with an amount of €255.8 million, compared to €3,519.7 million accrued for the comparative prior year period. The derived annual effective income tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2023, was 21.6%. Net profit was €457.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to €2,278.7 million for the comparative prior year period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, net profit was €930.3 million, compared to €9,434.4 million net profit for the comparative prior year period. Cash and cash equivalents as well as security investments2 as of December 31, 2023, reached €17,653.4 million, comprising €11,663.7 million cash and cash equivalents and €5,989.0 million security investments, respectively. Diluted earnings per share was €1.90 for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to diluted earnings per share of €9.26 for the comparative prior year period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, diluted earnings per share were €3.83, compared to €37.77 diluted earnings per share for the comparative prior year period. Shares outstanding as of December 31, 2023, were 237,725,735, excluding 10,826,465 shares held in treasury. In March 2023, the Management Board and Supervisory Board authorized the 2023 share repurchase program, under which BioNTech was permitted to purchase ADSs, each representing one ordinary share, with a value of up to $0.5 billion, which started June 2, 2023, and concluded on September 18, 2023. During the three months ended December 31, 2023, 114,513 ADSs were repurchased under the share repurchase program at an average price of $112.22 (€105.07), for total consideration of $12.9 million (€12.0 million). For the year ended December 31, 2023, a total of 4,646,965 ADSs were repurchased related to the 2023 program at an average price of $107.58 (€98.24), for total consideration of $0.5 billion (€456.5 million). “In 2023, we strengthened our financial position while concurrently progressing our clinical pipeline of immunotherapies and executing acquisitions and collaborations. Looking ahead to 2024, we will maintain a prudent capital allocation strategy as we invest and execute in our maturing pipeline and prepare for our first potential oncology launches,” said Jens Holstein, CFO of BioNTech. “Our COVID-19 vaccine franchise is expected to remain an important cash contributor in 2024. We believe our solid financial position will enable us to push forward with our long-term strategy to develop novel therapies against cancer, infectious and other severe diseases thereby generating added value for patients, society, investors and the Company.” Outlook for the 2024 Financial Year The Company's outlook contains the following components:
BioNTech expects group revenue for the full 2024 financial year to be in the range of €2.5 - €3.1 billion. The range reflects certain assumptions, including, but not limited to, expectations regarding: the timing and grant of regulatory approvals and recommendations, COVID-19 vaccine uptake and price levels, inventory write-downs by BioNTech's collaboration partner Pfizer that would negatively influence the Company's revenues, seasonal variations in SARS-CoV-2 circulation and vaccination uptake which are expected to lead to demand peaks in the autumn and winter compared to other seasons, revenues from a pandemic preparedness contract with the German government as well as revenues from BioNTech Group service businesses, namely InstaDeep, JPT Peptide Technologies GmbH and in Idar-Oberstein at BioNTech Innovative Manufacturing Services GmbH. Generally, the Company continues to remain largely dependent on revenues generated in its collaboration partner’s territories in 2024. Planned 2024 Financial Year Expenses and Capex3:
BioNTech expects to continue to focus investments on R&D and scaling the business for commercial readiness in oncology, while continuing to be cost disciplined. Strategic capital allocation will continue to be an important driver of the Company's trajectory. As part of BioNTech's strategy, the Company may continue to evaluate appropriate corporate development opportunities with the aim of driving sustainable long-term growth and create future value. The full audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, can be found in BioNTech’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the period ended December 31, 2023, filed today with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and available at https://www.sec.gov/ (the “Annual Report”). Endnotes 1 Calculated applying the average foreign exchange rate for the year ended December 31, 2023, as published by the German Central Bank (Deutsche Bundesbank). Operational Review of the Fourth Quarter 2023, Key Post Period-End Events and 2024 Outlook Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted Monovalent COVID-19 Vaccine (COMIRNATY®)
COVID-19 – Influenza Combination Vaccine Program BNT162b2 + BNT161 is an mRNA-based combination vaccine program against COVID-19 and influenza being developed in collaboration with Pfizer.
Select Oncology Pipeline Highlights BioNTech's vision for oncology is to bring novel therapies to patients and address the continuum of cancer treatment, from early to late lines. Addressing root causes of cancer treatment failure such as cancer heterogeneity and interindividual variability is the core of its strategy. To augment anti-tumor activity and to counteract resistance mechanisms, BioNTech seeks to combine compounds with non-overlapping, synergistic mechanisms of action. In 2023, the Company’s pipeline continued to mature, with various programs advancing towards later stages of development. BioNTech’s oncology pipeline currently contains 10 ongoing Phase 2 and 3 trials. In 2024, the Company expects to continue building its pipeline towards its planned first oncology launch in 2026. BioNTech aims to have ten indication approvals by 2030. Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) Programs BNT323/DB-1303 is an ADC candidate targeting Human Epidermal Growth Factor 2 (HER2) that is being developed in collaboration with Duality Biologics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. (“DualityBio”).
BNT325/DB-1305 is an ADC candidate targeting Trophoblast Cell-surface Antigen 2 (“TROP2”) that is being developed in collaboration with DualityBio.
Next-Generation Immune Checkpoint Immunomodulator Programs BNT316/ONC-392 (gotistobart) is an anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody candidate being developed in collaboration with OncoC4, Inc. (“OncoC4”).
BNT311/GEN1046 (acasunlimab) is a potential first-in-class bispecific antibody candidate combining PD-L1 checkpoint inhibition with 4-1BB costimulatory activation that is being developed in collaboration with Genmab S/A (“Genmab”).
BNT312/GEN1042 is a potential first-in-class bispecific antibody candidate designed to induce conditional immune activation by crosslinking CD40 and 4-1BB positive cells that is being developed in collaboration with Genmab.
BNT327/PM8002 is an anti-VEGF-A antibody candidate fused to a humanized anti-PD-L1 VHH that is being developed in collaboration with Biotheus Inc. (“Biotheus”). BNT327/PM8002 is currently being evaluated in Phase 1 and Phase 2/3 clinical trials in China to assess the efficacy and safety of the candidate as a monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy in various indications, including in first line small-cell lung cancer (“SCLC”) and second-line Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (“EGFR”)-mutated NSCLC.
Cancer Vaccine Programs BNT116 is based on BioNTech’s FixVac platform, and is a wholly owned, systemically administered, off-the-shelf uridine mRNA-lipoplex based cancer vaccine candidate encoding six shared lung cancer associated antigens. BNT116 is being evaluated for the treatment of advanced NSCLC.
Autogene cevumeran (BNT122) is an uridine mRNA-lipoplex based cancer vaccine candidate for individualized neoantigen-specific immunotherapy ("iNeST") being developed in collaboration with Genentech, Inc. ("Genentech"), a member of the Roche Group (“Roche”).
Cell Therapy Programs BNT211 is a CAR-T cell product candidate targeting Claudin-6 ("CLDN6")-positive solid tumors that is combined with a CAR-T cell-amplifying RNA vaccine ("CARVac") encoding CLDN6.
Select Infectious Disease Pipeline Highlights Beyond BioNTech’s portfolio of variant-adapted, next-generation and combination respiratory programs, the Company is developing vaccine modalities against multiple pathogens that pose a threat to public health and have a significant global health burden. In 2023, BioNTech initiated three first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trials leveraging its proprietary mRNA prophylactic vaccine technology. These trials are for vaccine candidates addressing shingles (NCT05703607), tuberculosis (NCT05537038, Germany and NCT05547464, Republic of South Africa), and mpox (NCT05988203). Corporate Update for 2023 and Key Post Period-End Events
Over the last 12 months, BioNTech expanded its organization in Asia, Africa, North America, Australia and Europe. The Company increased its research and development and production capabilities and completed construction of its first proprietary plasmid DNA manufacturing facility in Marburg, Germany. BioNTech also delivered and set up the first BioNTainer for its site in Kigali, Rwanda. In February 2024, BioNTech entered into a strategic collaboration with Autolus Therapeutics plc ("Autolus") aimed at advancing both companies’ autologous CAR-T programs towards commercialization, pending regulatory authorizations. The collaboration also grants BioNTech the option to access a suite of Autolus’ target binders and cell programming technologies to support BioNTech’s development of in vivo cell therapy and ADC candidates. In March 2024, BioNTech announced that Sean Marett, Chief Business and Commercial Officer, will retire as planned from the Management Board of BioNTech. As of July 1, 2024, Sean Marett will continue as a specialist advisor to the Company at least until the end of the year. As announced earlier today, Annemarie Hanekamp will be joining the Company's Management Board as Chief Commercial Officer on July 1, 2024. Sean Marett’s responsibilities as Chief Business Officer are being gradually transferred to James Ryan, Ph.D., Chief Legal Officer, who joined the Management Board in September 2023 and who will also take on the role as Chief Business Officer of BioNTech at the end of the transition phase and upon Sean Marett’s retirement. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) In February 2024, the Company’s near-term science-based emissions reduction targets were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (“SBTi”). This validation underscores the ambitious nature of BioNTech’s scope 1 and scope 2 climate targets and is intended to align with the United Nations' Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. More information on BioNTech’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 targets can be found in the Company's press release dated February 12, 2024. BioNTech's performance on environmental, social, and governance matters is regularly assessed by external rating agencies. The Institutional Shareholder Services Group ("ISS") currently assigns BioNTech a "Prime" ESG rating: the Company has received an overall corporate rating of B-, which is among the top 10% of all rated companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector. In the ISS Governance Quality Score, BioNTech stands at 5 on a risk scale of 1 (low risk) to 10 (high risk). S&P Global Ratings has rated BioNTech in the S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 ("CSA") with an S&P Global CSA score of 45 (2022: 32) out of 100. Morningstar Sustainalytics has given BioNTech a Sustainalytics ESG rating of 24.1 (2022: 22.3), which corresponds to a "medium risk", the third of five risk levels (negligible, low, medium, high and severe). BioNTech publishes its ESG report (Sustainability Report 2023) today, March 20, 2024. The report is being made available on the Investors' section of BioNTech’s website. Upcoming Investor and Analyst Events
Conference Call and Webcast Information BioNTech invites investors and the general public to join a conference call and webcast with investment analysts today, March 20, 2024, at 8:00 a.m. ET (1:00 p.m. CET) to report its financial results and provide a corporate update for the fourth quarter and financial year 2023. To access the live conference call via telephone, please register via this link. Once registered, dial-in numbers and a pin number will be provided. The slide presentation and audio of the webcast will be available via this link. Participants may also access the slides and the webcast of the conference call via the “Events & Presentations” page of the Investors' section of the Company’s website at https://biontech.com. A replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call and archived on the Company’s website for 30 days following the call. About BioNTech For more information, please visit www.BioNTech.com. Forward-Looking Statements These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: BioNTech's pricing and coverage negotiations regarding its COVID-19 vaccine with governmental authorities, private health insurers and other third-party payors after BioNTech's initial sales to national governments; the future commercial demand and medical need for initial or booster doses of a COVID-19 vaccine; competition from other COVID-19 vaccines or related to BioNTech's other product candidates, including those with different mechanisms of action and different manufacturing and distribution constraints, on the basis of, among other things, efficacy, cost, convenience of storage and distribution, breadth of approved use, side-effect profile and durability of immune response; the timing of and BioNTech's ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for BioNTech's product candidates; the ability of BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccines to prevent COVID-19 caused by emerging virus variants; BioNTech's and its counterparties’ ability to manage and source necessary energy resources; BioNTech's ability to identify research opportunities and discover and develop investigational medicines; the ability and willingness of BioNTech's third-party collaborators to continue research and development activities relating to BioNTech's development candidates and investigational medicines; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on BioNTech's development programs, supply chain, collaborators and financial performance; unforeseen safety issues and potential claims that are alleged to arise from the use of BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine and other products and product candidates developed or manufactured by BioNTech; BioNTech's and its collaborators’ ability to commercialize and market BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine and, if approved, its product candidates; BioNTech's ability to manage its development and expansion; regulatory developments in the United States and other countries; BioNTech's ability to effectively scale its production capabilities and manufacture its products, including target COVID-19 vaccine production levels, and product candidates; risks relating to the global financial system and markets; and other factors not known to BioNTech at this time. You should review the risks and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” in BioNTech's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 and in subsequent filings made by BioNTech with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/. Except as required by law, BioNTech disclaims any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are based on BioNTech’s current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. CONTACTS Investor Relations Media Relations
Statements of Profit or Loss
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