BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Simon Baker: Thanks so much.

Operator: Thank you. And we will now take 1 more question. Please stand by. The last question is from the line of Ellie Merle from UBS. Please go ahead.

Ellie Merle: Thanks so much for taking the question. Just in terms of thinking about the profitability of the COVID vaccine business, just how should we think about the Pfizer COVID vaccine gross profit margins going forward, just given the endemic market and the impact this has on the revenue you recognize. You mentioned the continued shift to single dose vials and pre-filled syringes. Just trying to think about how you’re thinking about long-term potential margins for that business and the impact on the revenues that you’d recognize as part of the profit share. Thanks.

Ryan Richardson: Yeah, thanks, Ellie. I’ll start and then Jens can come in. So I think the short answer is that, we expect the COVID vaccine franchise to continue to be highly cash-generated and highly profitable on a product basis for us going forward. You rightly point out the shift to endemic market that we talked about today. You have to remember that because we share gross profits 50-50 with Pfizer and the bulk of our revenue comes in the form of a Pfizer gross profit share from countries outside of Germany and Turkey, which are our revenue reporting regions. Because of that, we don’t expect the direct shift to single dose vial and pre-filled syringes to have a significant effect on our gross margins. Because it’s already — most of that revenue is already coming to us net of cost of goods. It’s rather the mix between Germany-Turkey, the relative contribution of Germany-Turkey to the total that would affect the gross margins. Jens, you want to add.

Jens Holstein: Yes. I think you said it basically. So everything that comes from Pfizer is 100% profit for us. So the relation between what we generate as revenue and what Pfizer generates is actually driving the story here at the end of the day. Remember, [Technical Difficulty] we have a multi-dose contract anyway for the next couple of years for the COVID standalone solution at this point in time. So Ryan made the point.

Ellie Merle : Great, thanks.

Ryan Richardson: Does that answer your question?

Ellie Merle: Yeah.

Ryan Richardson: Okay, thank you.

Operator: Thank you. And that concludes the question and answer session. I will now hand back to the speakers for any closing remarks.

Ryan Richardson: Thank you very much for joining our call. We look forward to speaking with you again tomorrow.

Operator: Thank you. That does conclude the conference for today. Thank you for participating and you may now disconnect.