Time has run out on BioNTech’s bid to locate buyers for sites in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Tübingen. Including staff at a Singapore plant also slated for closure, the move could impact 1,860 jobs.
BioNTech is preparing to close three manufacturing sites in Germany after failing to find buyers for the facilities.
The German biotech unveiled plans to close the plants in May. At that time, BioNTech planned to exit the facilities in the German towns of Idar-Oberstein, Marburg and Tübingen by the end of 2027 but remained open to deals to save the sites. Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel reportedly expressed an interest in buying the plants.
Having set an end-of-September deadline for striking a deal, BioNTech this week has ended its efforts to find buyers for the production sites. Despite “the intensive efforts of all parties involved and a broad-based sales process,” BioNTech was unable to secure a deal, a company spokesperson told BioSpace via email on Wednesday.
BioNTech began looking for buyers after forecasting that the plants would become idle or underused within two years. The Marburg site can make enough mRNA for up to 3 billion vaccine doses a year, according to BioNTech. However, the company decided it no longer needs the capacity now that COVID-19 vaccine sales have fallen and Pfizer is taking full responsibility for making Comirnaty starting in 2027.
The big biotech employs about 450 people at the Marburg production plant, plus another 500 individuals at its facility in Idar-Oberstein. The Idar-Oberstein site makes cell therapy products and clinical bulk mRNA. Meanwhile, BioNTech acquired the Tübingen plant last year through its $1.25 billion, all-stock takeover of CureVac, a rival German mRNA specialist. Factoring in employees at a Singapore site slated for closure, the wave of facility exits could affect about 1,860 jobs, BioNTech said in May.
“Together with the Group Works Council, socially responsible solutions and enhanced severance arrangements have been agreed that recognize the particular challenges associated with a site closure and are intended to provide employees with the best possible support during this situation,” the spokesperson said.
The company began to incur costs linked to the exits while still seeking deals to save the sites. In August, BioNTech CFO Ramón Zapata reported employee-related expenses and impairment charges reflecting “progression from announcing [the site consolidation] to actively executing it.” In the second quarter, BioNTech incurred employee-related restructuring costs of €97.6 million ($110.7 million)—most of which stemmed from the Marburg and Idar-Oberstein sites—and impairment losses on property, plant and equipment of €96.1 million ($109.0 million).
Last month, BioNTech disclosed a deal for JPT Peptide Technologies, which the biotech had initially planned on divesting as part of its manufacturing consolidation effort. Instead, a fund advised by DUBAG Group agreed to buy the contract manufacturer that specializes in peptide-based products and services. Located in Germany, closing JPT would have affected up to 140 jobs.
