Dai weighs pipeline updates
BioNTech's earnings call highlighted several important pipeline developments, Dai wrote in a research note available Wednesday, according to dpa-AFX Analyser. Those updates left him increasingly positive about pumitamig. Recent setbacks involving melanoma and carcinomas, however, prompted him to drop two programs from his model.
The accompanying disclosure lists the original report's publication as November 4, 2026, at 03:55 GMT. It separately gives November 3, 2026, as the first distribution date, without specifying a time or time zone.
Quarterly profit and a higher revenue outlook
BioNTech returned to profit in the third quarter despite lower revenue, according to StockTitan's summary of the company's Form 6-K. Revenue totaled €1,289.2 million, down from €1,518.9 million a year earlier, primarily because of an expected decline in demand for its COVID-19 vaccines. IFRS net profit was €184.5 million, compared with a net loss of €28.7 million in the prior-year quarter.
The company raised the lower end of its full-year 2026 revenue forecast, changing the range to €1.7 billion to €1.9 billion from €1.6 billion to €1.9 billion. Its adjusted expense forecasts for research and development and for selling, general and administrative activities remained unchanged.
Jefferies analyst Akash Tewari also maintained a "Buy" rating after the results, with a $138 price target. In his November 4 reaction, reported by dpa-AFX Analyser, Tewari said revenue and earnings per share exceeded consensus estimates. He viewed pumitamig as the main driver of the stock's potential upside.
Pumitamig collaboration with Gilead
BioNTech's pumitamig development plans include a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Gilead Sciences. Under the agreement, the ROSETTA Breast-01 trial will test pumitamig alongside sacituzumab govitecan, a TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate, as a first-line treatment for patients with PD-L1 low or negative, locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
Subject to regulatory approval, ROSETTA Breast-01 would be the first global Phase 3 trial to combine pumitamig with an antibody-drug conjugate. BioNTech said seven pivotal trials across its ROSETTA program are evaluating pumitamig.
Other trials face setbacks
BioNTech's third-quarter update also detailed difficulties elsewhere in its pipeline. The company began early termination of a randomized Phase 2 trial testing autogene cevumeran as an adjuvant treatment for ctDNA-positive, resected Stage II/III colorectal cancer. An independent data safety monitoring board had identified a numerical imbalance in overall survival.
In the Phase 2/3 AHEAD-MERIT trial, adding BNT113 to pembrolizumab did not produce a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with pembrolizumab alone. The trial continues to evaluate overall survival.
The Phase 3 DYNASTY-Breast02 trial of trastuzumab pamirtecan met its primary endpoint in HR-positive, HER2-low metastatic breast cancer. The improvement in progression-free survival was only modest, however, and the trial showed a higher rate of interstitial lung disease.
