Why BioNTech Was a Sickly Stock This Week

What happened

BioNTech (BNTX -1.89%), a company that rose to great prominence and a high stock price during the coronavirus pandemic, wasn’t much of a star in the past few sessions on the stock market.

According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the Germany-based biotech’s stock fell by nearly 15% over the course of the week. Investors, it seems, are getting over coronavirus stocks as the world labors to emerge from the pandemic.

So what

In many parts of the world — following bumps higher — both hospitalizations and fatalities from COVID-19 are again on the decline. This has, at least somewhat, eased fears of a global coronavirus surge as winter grips the planet.

The monster exception to this is China, which continues to suffer disproportionately from the disease. This has the potential to worsen, given that the country’s government rolled back many of the measures it had in place under its Zero COVID policy. Among other moves, the authorities are now allowing people to travel, which could lead to a spread of the disease across the globe.

But investors clearly aren’t banking on this in the case of BioNTech, which co-developed (along with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer) one of the top COVID vaccines, Comirnaty. The problem is that BioNTech remains extremely dependent on Comirnaty for its revenue; as the coronavirus is perceived to fade, so fades interest in its stock.

Now what

Investors should bear in mind, though, that before long BioNTech won’t be solely identified with treatment for coronavirus. On Dec. 23, for example, it announced the launch of a phase 1 study of a multi-antigen malaria vaccine.

In the future it’s sure to bring several vaccines and drugs to market using its mRNA-based technology. If all goes well, BioNTech will emerge from the coronavirus stock status it continues to be pegged with into a broader, multifaceted biotech company.