Sahin and Türeci Are Back at the Drawing Board

BioNTech co-founders will leave by year-end to launch a new next-gen mRNA company, with BioNTech taking a minority stake

7 Apr 2026

BioNTech co-founders Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci will step down by the end of 2026 to establish an independent biotechnology company focused on next-generation mRNA technologies, the German firm announced on 10 March. The departure marks a significant shift at one of the pharmaceutical industry's most prominent post-pandemic companies.

Under the terms of the arrangement, BioNTech will transfer selected mRNA rights and technologies to the new venture on a commercial basis, receiving a minority equity stake, milestone payments and royalties in return. Binding agreements are expected before the end of June, with the leadership transition completing once existing service contracts conclude.

This would be the third biotech venture for the pair. They founded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals in 2001 and BioNTech itself in 2008, whose mRNA coronavirus vaccine became one of the defining medical interventions of the pandemic era.

The structure suits both sides. BioNTech retains an equity interest in the spinout and the option to collaborate on future combination therapies, while the new entity gains access to core platform assets and the scientific standing of its founders, unconstrained by BioNTech's commercial schedule.

For BioNTech, the departure clears the way toward its stated ambition of becoming a multi-product commercial company by 2030. The company is targeting 15 ongoing Phase 3 oncology trials by year-end, with multiple late-stage cancer data readouts expected in 2026. Its existing pipeline, including cancer immunotherapies and antibody-drug conjugates, will be unaffected by the leadership change.

The new company will be independently resourced and funded, with a mandate to develop mRNA platform technologies beyond the current commercial generation.

What remains open is whether the spinout can attract the capital and partnerships needed to translate platform ambition into clinical results, and how the market will reassess BioNTech's own trajectory once its scientific founders are no longer at the helm.