On 5 May 2026, BioNTech announces: up to 1,860 jobs cut — 22 percent of its workforce. The plants in Idar-Oberstein and Marburg close by end of 2027. The CureVac sites too. COVID vaccine production transfers entirely to Pfizer.
The stock drops five percent.
What Was Built#
BioNTech became Germany’s flagship pandemic project. The state was involved throughout:
- Federal Ministry of Education and Research: €375 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development, 2020
- EU framework contract: Up to 1.8 billion COVID vaccine doses for the EU, negotiated by the Commission under Ursula von der Leyen — whose negotiation text messages are, of course, deleted
- CureVac: Also state-funded, €252 million from the federal government, 2020. Location: Tübingen. The promise: a second German mRNA vaccine as a sovereign backup
The narrative was clear: Germany is building independent mRNA infrastructure. Never again dependent on foreign supply chains.
What Is Happening Now#
BioNTech, May 2026:
| Site | Status |
|---|---|
| Idar-Oberstein | Closing by end of 2027 |
| Marburg | Closing by end of 2027 |
| Singapore | Closing by end of 2027 |
| CureVac sites | Closing (part of BioNTech acquisition) |
In total: almost all German production sites.
COVID vaccine production transfers entirely to Pfizer — the American corporation that holds the approval and splits revenues roughly equally with BioNTech.
The cancer drug Pumitamig (still in development) goes to Bristol Myers Squibb — also American.
Roland Strasser, IG BCE trade union:
“Production is now being ruthlessly sacrificed to impress shareholders.”
CureVac: The End of a Second Promise#
CureVac was the second German mRNA project. €252 million in federal funding, 2020. The vaccine failed in Phase 3 trials (June 2021, 47 percent efficacy instead of the hoped-for 70+). The company pivoted to other mRNA applications.
BioNTech acquired relevant CureVac assets. Now those sites are also being closed.
Two state-funded mRNA platforms. Neither leaves producing capacity in Germany.
Mainz: The Gold Mine Runs Dry#
Nowhere was BioNTech euphoria greater than in Mainz. Nowhere will the disillusionment be greater.
The numbers:
- 2021–2022: BioNTech paid almost €3.3 billion in trade tax — the lion’s share to Mainz. In peak years roughly one billion euros per year.
- 2023: already collapsed to €375 million
- 2026: Production sites go. The headquarters stays. Trade tax from production: gone.
Der Neue Kämmerer — a specialist magazine for municipal finance — ran the headline: “BioNTech: Mainz’s revenue source is drying up.”
The honours:
While the coffers were filling, BioNTech founders Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci were showered with awards:
- Federal Cross of Merit with Star — presented by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, March 2021
- State Order of Merit of Rhineland-Palatinate
- Honorary Ring of Mainz University Medical Centre
- Honorary citizenship of the city of Mainz planned
That is the complete programme of state gratitude — for a company that is now transferring the production capacity co-financed by that gratitude to the United States.
Tübingen: The Palmer comment
In Tübingen — home of CureVac — Mayor Boris Palmer commented on the BioNTech acquisition and subsequent closure:
“First buy, then kill — that’s not how this works.”
The breakdown of the 1,860 job cuts: Marburg 540, Idar-Oberstein ~440, CureVac sites (Tübingen et al.) ~820, Singapore 60. Mainz itself: the headquarters remains. The production jobs: gone.
What Remains#
The mRNA platform as a technology continues — but not in German hands.
- Pfizer produces the COVID vaccine
- Bristol Myers Squibb handles BioNTech’s cancer pipeline
- BioNTech keeps the research and collects licensing revenues
That is the model: German basic research, American production, shared revenues. The infrastructure — plants, machinery, capacity — moves out.
The explanation is economically coherent. It does not answer what it needs to answer.
€375 million in BMBF funding for BioNTech. €252 million for CureVac. Billions in EU framework contracts, negotiated by a Commission president whose negotiation text messages are deleted. The narrative: Germany is building sovereign mRNA infrastructure, never again dependent on foreign supply chains.
The result: Pfizer produces the vaccine. Bristol Myers Squibb handles the cancer pipeline. The production sites transfer to America.
Who won: Pfizer. BMS. American corporations that had their German basic research subsidised with public money — and are now taking over the infrastructure.
Who lost: 1,860 employees. The German taxpayer. And the idea of a production-sovereign German pharmaceutical industry for the next pandemic.
Boris Palmer put it in one sentence: “First buy, then kill.” What he did not add: the money to buy was there because the state had already paid for it.
Sources: Handelsblatt (05.05.2026); BioNTech press release (05.05.2026); BMBF funding decision BioNTech (2020); Federal Government CureVac funding (2020); Der Neue Kämmerer (Mainz trade tax); Hessenschau (05.05.2026, Marburg 540 jobs); Bundespräsident.de (Steinmeier Federal Cross of Merit, 19.03.2021); IG BCE Roland Strasser via Handelsblatt.
