BioNTech's revenues more than tripled in 2020

German biotechnology company BioNTech's revenues increased by 344 percent year-on-year to 482.3 million euros in 2020, thanks to its COVID-19 vaccine, it said on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

The company's revenues generated with its COVID-19 vaccine alone amounted to 270.5 million euros, according to estimated figures based on preliminary data shared with the U.S. company Pfizer, BioNTech's partner in the development of the vaccine.

As of March 2021, the company delivered more than 200 million vaccine doses to more than 65 countries and regions, said Ugur Sahin, Co-founder and CEO of BioNTech.

After losing 179.2 million euros before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, BioNTech recorded a net profit of 15.2 million euros in 2020.

To date, BioNTech and Pfizer signed orders for 1.4 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2021. The companies expect to expand manufacturing capacities to up to 2.5 billion doses by the end of the year.

"We will continue to focus on innovating in the COVID-19 field by advancing new formulations and addressing vaccine variants, as well as initiating new trials in additional sub-populations," said Sahin.

More than three months after the start of the coronavirus vaccination program in Germany, around 3.96 million people were fully vaccinated as of Monday, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 4.8 percent, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 267 candidate vaccines are still being developed globally -- 83 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on March 23.