Like other pharma companies, BioNTech’s quarterly revenues dropped due to waning demand for COVID-19 vaccines.

The German-based company reported €1.2 billion in total revenues during Q1 2023, down from €6.3 billion in Q1 2022. BioNTech’s net profit dropped from nearly €3.7 billion this time last year to €502.2 million, while its diluted earnings per share (EPS) slid from €14.24 to €2.05 over the same period.

The decreasing sales of BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine also contributed to its cost of sales falling from €1.3 billion to €96 million. During the same time, research and development expenses rose to €334 million, while its general and administrative expenses increased to €119.4 million.

Despite the declining sales and revenue figures, BioNTech’s chief financial officer said the financial performance in Q1 was “fully in line” with company expectations. He added that BioNTech remains focused on fulfilling its goals and providing value to its shareholders.

To that end, BioNTech reiterated its full-year financial guidance for its estimated COVID-19 vaccine revenues, which are expected to total around €5 billion.

The company noted that a renegotiation of an existing supply contract with the European Commission. However, it added that vaccine adaptation could lead to increased demand while fewer primary vaccinations and lowered population-wide levels of jobs is also expected.

“In the first quarter of 2023, we expanded our toolkit of cutting-edge technologies to new modalities and added a novel immune checkpoint inhibitor candidate targeting CTLA-4 and two investigational antibody-drug conjugates to our arsenal against cancer. These programs are strategically aligned with our vision to provide meaningful therapeutic benefits for patients with solid tumors along the entire treatment journey,” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, MD, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, in a statement.

Similar to its pharma and biotech peers, BioNTech has been exploring options outside of its COVID-19 vaccines capabilities and is executing on a plan to expand its portfolio.

Last month, BioNTech signed a partnership agreement with DualityBio to give the company access to antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapeutics candidates targeting cancer and autoimmune diseases.

BioNTech will pay DualityBio $170 million upfront and milestone payments could add up to $1.5 billion.