German crown vaccine maker BioNTech made a net profit of around €10.3 billion last year.
Sales were nearly 19.0 billion euros, the company announced on Wednesday. When presenting its business figures for 2021, BioNTech confirmed the sales forecast for its Covid-19 vaccine of 13 to 17 billion euros in the current year.
The company is now planning a share buyback program of up to $1.5 billion (€1.35 billion) over the next two years and will also pay a special dividend of €2 per share. Shares rose slightly in US premarket trading.
According to the company, it expects to publish the first clinical trial data on the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a vaccine adapted to the omicron variant in April, which should support potential applications for approval. Other vaccine candidates must also be tested.