GERMAN vaccine-maker BioNTech today reported a multibillion-euro windfall in 2021 from sales of its Covid-19 shot, developed together with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

The Mainz-based firm said it made a net profit of €10.3 billion (RM48.2 billion) last year, up from €15 million in 2020, the first year of the pandemic.

The development of the vaccine, the first approved to counter the virus, had a “momentous impact on human health and the global economy”, said BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin in a statement.

The firm delivered 2.6 billion doses of the vaccine based on mRNA technology last year, pulling in revenues of €19 billion in the process.

BioNTech projects vaccine revenues to reach between €13 and €17 billion this year, and aims to pump up to €1.5 billion into research and development.

An Omicron-specific vaccine is currently in the works, while the pharmaceutical company also looks to develop treatments for malaria and tuberculosis, among other diseases.

The rise of the small biotech firm has had a measurable impact on the German economy, with economists estimating earlier this year that the firm accounted for “around 0.5% of all economic activity” last year.

Its revenues translated into a significant boost to the government’s own coffers, with BioNTech paying €4.8 billion in tax in 2021, according to the firm.

It said it will launch a €1.5-billion share buy-back programme over the next two years and pay out a cash dividend of €2 per share. – AFP, March 30, 2022.