(Bloomberg) -- BioNTech SE posted a quarterly loss that was wider than analysts foresaw amid low demand for Covid-19 vaccines and increased spending on developing new products.
Mainz, Germany-based BioNTech’s second-quarter loss was €3.36 ($3.68) a diluted share, according to a statement Monday. Sales of €128.7 million also missed analysts’ expectations.
The US depositary receipts fell as much as 6.7% in New York amid widespread losses in global trading. They had lost 22% this year through Friday’s close.
Lower sales of Covid-19 shots, BioNTech’s main revenue driver, have weighed on performance. The company has attributed some of this to seasonal demand skewing to the later months of the year, when around 90% of total annual revenues are expected. The second-quarter revenue is “expected to be the low point in this year’s Covid-19 vaccine uptake,” Chief Financial Officer Jens Holstein said on a call with analysts.
After gaining prominence for its Covid vaccines during the pandemic, BioNTech is shifting focus, with several cancer treatments expected to launch from 2026 onward. A recent success was the positive result from a mid-stage trial for a candidate to fight advanced melanoma.
About 90% of research and development spending in the quarter was unrelated to Covid, according to the statement. Still, the Covid business is expected to remain a driver of overall margins in the next couple of years, BioNTech executives said on the call.
The vaccine maker has partnered with Pfizer Inc. to develop a two-in-one shot against Covid and the flu. The timing of preliminary final-stage data is key as vaccine rival Moderna Inc. is likely to file for approval of a similar product in the second half of the year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
(Updates with company comments from fourth paragraph)
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