German biotech company Biontech more than tripled its first-quarter profit thanks to strong sales of its Covid-19 vaccine. Net profit jumped from 1.1 a year ago to almost 3.7 billion euros, as Biontech announced on Monday. Sales jumped from a good two to 6.4 billion euros.
“Following an increased order volume initially received in late 2021 due to the emerging Omikron variant, we started 2022 with strong sales and results,” said CFO Jens Holstein.
For 2022, Biontech continues to expect sales of its Covid 19 vaccine to be between 13 and 17 billion euros. The US partner Pfizer, with whom Biontech is working on the vaccine, recently confirmed its sales forecast of around more than 30 billion euros for the vaccine.
With the easing of corona restrictions in many countries, however, the rapid growth has now slowed. Biontech and Pfizer have signed supply contracts for around 2.4 billion vaccine doses for 2022. Around 2.6 billion cans were delivered in 2021.
The US vaccine competitor Moderna also confirmed the forecast for its Covid 19 vaccine of over 21 billion dollars last week. Due to the expected demand for booster vaccinations in autumn, Moderna is assuming higher sales in the second half of the year than in the first half of the year.
The company is developing a booster that targets both the original coronavirus and the omicron variant. Biontech and Pfizer are working on a vaccine adapted to the Omicron variant.
Source: Nachrichten
