Scientists behind COVID-19 vaccine will depart BioNTech

By Jaimy Lee

BioNTech's stock fell 19% after its co-founders said they are leaving to start a new mRNA-based company

Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, the co-founders of BioNTech, were given the Axel Springer Award in March 2021 in Berlin. (Photo by Bernd von Jutrczenka - Pool/Getty Images)

The founders of the biotech company that developed Comirnaty, the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine sold by BioNTech and Pfizer, will step down and form a new mRNA company.

BioNTech said Tuesday that Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci - a married couple who founded BioNTech in 2008 - will form a startup focused on creating a new generation of mRNA therapies. They plan to leave by the end of this year.

The company's stock (BNTX) plunged 19% in premarket trades on Tuesday.

Sahin currently serves as CEO, while Türeci is chief medical officer. BioNTech will provide "related rights and mRNA technologies" to the new company, which plans to develop "next-generation mRNA innovations with disruptive potential."

BioNTech is searching for new leadership.

In 2018, BioNTech partnered with Pfizer (PFE) to develop mRNA-based flu vaccines. By April 2020, that partnership had evolved to focus on bringing to market a COVID vaccine. Comiraty, which was the first COVID vaccine approved in the U.S., produced $37.8 billion in sales at its peak. However, sales have dwindled since then, and the science of mRNA has become heavily politicized.

BioNTech's stock is down 3% over the last year, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 21%.

-Jaimy Lee

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03-10-26 0740ET