This week’s announcement of BioNTech factory closures in Germany marks an end to the country’s pandemic-era COVID-19 vaccine production boom. The Mainz-based pioneer announced that it will manufacture its final batches of the vaccine domestically later this year, transferring all future production to its American partner, Pfizer.

This strategic retreat from Germany – which includes the shuttering of facilities in Marburg, Idar-Oberstein, and the recently acquired CureVac site in Tübingen – is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, according to German media reports. In total, the company plans to cut up to 1,860 jobs across production sites in Germany, as well as in Singapore.

The company’s leadership attributed the restructuring to plummeting global demand for pandemic products and a necessary pivot toward funding a high-stakes oncology pipeline. BioNTech reported a net loss of €531.9 million in the first quarter of 2026, a sharp decline from previous years.

Closures prompt calls for industrial policy

Economic experts warn that relying on volatile corporate and geopolitical developments to maintain vaccine supplies threatens European health security.

“We have seen in the COVID pandemic that a purely business-driven choice of production sites for vaccines can lead to supply bottlenecks in a crisis,” Professor Sebastian Dullien, scientific director at the Macroeconomic Policy Institute, warned in an interview with Reuters.

To prevent future shortages, he urged the government to take stock of vaccine production capacities and implement industrial policies, such as state subsidies or “Buy European” regulations for health insurance companies, to maintain vital production capacities across the continent.

The German federal government dismissed warnings of supply bottlenecks, maintaining that the country’s vaccine supply remains secure and other manufacturers will compensate for the shortfall.

Indeed, foreign manufacturers are stepping in to fill the void, with US pharma company Pfizer likely to utilise its established manufacturing facilities in Europe to absorb BioNTech’s production in the EU. Further underscoring this transatlantic market shift, European regulators recently authorised mCombriax, a new messenger RNA vaccine produced by US rival Moderna that protects adults aged 50 and older against both COVID-19 and seasonal influenza.

US trade policies and EU legislation to reshape global markets

While the approval of foreign products like mCombriax addresses immediate health needs, this deepens EU reliance on American imports, underscoring the fragility of Europe’s supply lines, currently exacerbated by a trade conflict with the US.

The BioNTech factory closures unfold against the backdrop of a recent US Presidential Proclamation imposing up to 100% tariffs on pharmaceutical imports. Although a preferential 15% rate exists for products from the European Union (EU) and Japan, alongside a 10% rate for the United Kingdom, the overarching threat of a trade war leaves European governments scrambling.

To counter its dependency on US imports and to secure local manufacturers, the EU is currently advancing the Critical Medicines Act and the European Biotech Act. These measures aim to incentivise domestic production through public procurement, streamlined regulatory pathways, state subsidies, and “Buy European” rules to shield European health security from global trade ruptures.

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