• BioNTech announced the closure of almost all domestic production sites in Germany and the elimination of up to 1,860 jobs, transferring COVID-19 vaccine production to US partner Pfizer.
  • IMK scientific director Sebastian Dullien warned that this could lead to vaccine shortages in crisis situations and called on the government to review capacities and consider subsidies.
  • CureVac founder Ingmar Hoerr accused BioNTech of deception, claiming the acquisition was only to avoid patent disputes, not to strengthen the company.
  • Union IG BCE criticized the decision as ‘social irresponsibility’ and a ‘frontal attack on workers’, highlighting damage to Germany’s pharmaceutical resilience.
  • BioNTech is closing plants in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg, and Singapore by end of 2027, leaving only headquarters in Mainz and offices in Berlin and Munich in Germany.
  • CureVac had already been hit by multiple job reduction programs, and the acquisition by BioNTech further endangers jobs in Tübingen.

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