Why Shares of BioNTech Rose 216% in 2021

The immunotherapy specialist is ready for more advances after the successful introduction of a groundbreaking vaccine.

What took place?

BioNTech (BNTX 4.17 percent ) CEO Uur ahin felt his company was one of the few that could quickly develop an effective vaccine for what he feared would become a pandemic-level infection after reading an article about a mystery respiratory virus identified in Wuhan, China, roughly two years ago. As that vaccine, now known as Comirnaty, was developed and tested with the support of its much larger partner, Pfizer, his exact prediction resulted in a 140 percent rise for shares in 2020. ( PFE -1.22 percent ). According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the effective implementation of the vaccination boosted BioNTech stock by another 216 percent in 2021.

And that phenomenal increase is less than half of the year-to-date gain it had in August.

So, when BioNTech announces its fourth quarter earnings, we'll find out if analysts predict it earned over $20 billion in revenue in 2021. Analysts predict annual earnings of about $10 billion, or more than $41 per share. All of this for a corporation with a market valuation of under $7 billion when COVID-19 initially caught our attention.

Looking back can assist explain where the company is now and what will be most important to it in the next years.

BioNTech was formed in 2008 by ahin and his wife, Dr. Ozlem Tureci, with the goal of bringing breakthrough therapies to market. They weren't trying to safeguard billions of people from a virus, though. Their goal was to create personalized cancer treatments that targeted cancer cells based on their genetic makeup. They might be able to accomplish their ambition now, because to the nearly 3 billion doses of Comirnaty BioNTech and Pfizer likely generated last year — and the estimated 4 billion doses they'll create this year.

So, what's next?

Every day, more people throughout the world receive COVID-19 immunizations and boosters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is continuing to expand the age ranges of persons who are eligible for vaccinations. As a result, BioNTech's coronavirus-related sales are unlikely to plummet in 2022. In fact, most analysts predict that sales will only modestly fall. But it isn't what should thrill investors the most.

The Food and Drug Administration granted the business fast track status for BNT-111, a possible therapy for advanced melanoma, in November. The business has 19 cancer potential therapies in its pipeline. The one that is the furthest along in the development process is BNT-111, which is now in phase 2 trials.

It's a "off-the-shelf" treatment that's based on recognized antigens found in the tumour in question. BNT-122, which similarly targets melanoma, is being developed by the business to treat tumors on an individual basis. That contender is also in phase 2 testing.

In 2020, BioNTech made a splash by producing a COVID-19 vaccine based on messenger RNA. In 2021, the corporation reaped the financial benefits. With a pipeline full of promising cancer medicines, BioNTech's clinical data in the coming year could help clarify the company's possibilities of becoming a biotechnology behemoth.