Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Helmut Jeggle. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I hereby open today's annual general meeting of BioNTech SE, and in accordance with Section 15, paragraph 1, 1st sentence of our articles of association, assume the chairmanship. Today's annual general meeting is being held as a virtual meeting. This means that, with the exception of the company's proxies, shareholders or their proxies are not physically present here today. Shareholders who are listed in the company's share register and have duly registered for the annual general meeting, as well as their proxies, may connect to the annual general meeting electronically via the investor portal accessible on our website during the duration of today's meeting and participate in this manner. On behalf of the Management Board and my colleagues of the Supervisory Board, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our shareholders and shareholder representatives.
As already announced in the invitation, I will also, as chair of the meeting, in accordance with Section 15, paragraph 4 of the articles of association, allow our holders of American Depositary Shares and the interested public to view the entire meeting today via our website outside the investor portal. I therefore welcome all those who are following the BioNTech SE annual general meeting in this way. The notarial record of today's annual general meeting will be prepared by Notary Masha Diefenbach, based in Mainz. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to her. The proxies appointed by the company are present here today. Let me also point out, in the interest of equal treatment, all personal designations and terms used hereafter are to be understood as gender-neutral. Today's annual general meeting will be held in German.
However, our board member, Ramón Zapata, will speak in English during the meeting, and our board member, Kylie Jimenez, will also introduce herself to you in English shortly. The company is therefore providing simultaneous interpretation into German by certified interpreters. Shareholders and shareholder representatives who wish to follow the annual general meeting in German via the investor portal do not need to take any further action. Alternatively, you can change the language setting directly in the webcast to follow the original audio. Through our website outside the investor portal, you also have the option to follow the annual general meeting not only in German or the respective original audio, but also in English or Chinese. Links for this purpose are available on our website. You can then just adjust the language settings within the respective webcast.
Ladies and gentlemen, before I explain the formalities of today's Annual General Meeting, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our Management Board. All members of the board are present here today. Our Chairman, Ugur Sahin, Annemarie Hanekamp, Kylie Jimenez, Sierk Pötting, James Ryan, Özlem Türeci, and Ramón Zapata. I would also like to welcome my colleagues from the Supervisory Board, Michael Motschmann, Ulrich Wandschneider, Anja Morawietz, Rudolf Staudigl, who are present here today. Only our other Supervisory Board member, Nicola Blackwood, is unfortunately unable to be present here today because of an prior commitment and asks that this be excused. She is present here virtually and will be able to communicate with us. There were no changes to the Supervisory Board during the past fiscal year, 2025.
As for the management board, Mr. Jens Holstein left the company as planned on June 30, 2025 and retired. As his successor, the supervisory board appointed Mr. Ramon Zapata as Chief Financial Officer, effectively July 1, 2025. He already introduced himself to you at last year's annual general meeting. In addition, Mr. Ryan Richardson, former Chief Strategy Officer, stepped down from the management board by mutual agreement effective September 30, 2025. On behalf of the supervisory board, I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank both Mr. Holstein and Mr. Richardson for their contribution to the successful development of BioNTech. The supervisory board has also approved a contract extension for Mr. Sierk Pötting, as well as the extension of his appointment as a member of the management board and Chief Operating Officer through December 31, 2027.
Dear Sierk, we look forward to continuing our collaboration. Following the end of the 2025 fiscal year, the Supervisory Board has also appointed Mrs. Kylie Jimenez as Chief Human Resources Officer, effective March 1st, 2026. Ms. Jimenez is here with us today. I will now briefly hand the floor over to her.
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This, this is currently the extent of my German. I hope you will excuse me for continuing in English as I introduce myself as BioNTech's new Chief People Officer. It's an exciting time to join BioNTech. The company is advancing a highly innovative oncology pipeline while building the organizational capabilities needed for its next phase as a global multi-product commercial biotechnology company. Over the course of my career, I've led people and organizational transformation across global, complex, and innovation-driven businesses. My role at BioNTech is to ensure that our organization, leadership, and talent evolve alongside our strategy and ambitions. In an industry where innovation, speed, and execution matter enormously, ensuring the organization can adapt and scale effectively while continuing to attract and develop exceptional scientific, commercial, and leadership talent will be critical to our long-term success.
What's impressed me most since joining BioNTech is the combination of scientific ambition, purpose, and entrepreneurial spirit across the company. Preserving these strengths while building the capabilities needed for the next stage of growth will be an important focus. What excites me most about the future is the opportunity to shape the next chapter of a company that has already changed medicine once and is determined to do it again for patients around the world. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Kylie. Before we move on to the agenda, I would first like to draw your attention to a few formalities. Please note that no audio or video recordings will be made of this meeting. Please understand that you are also not permitted to make any audio or video recordings of this broadcast. The chairman's speech and the management board's presentation will be made available on the company's website following the conclusion of this annual meeting. We have carefully reviewed the technical arrangements necessary for the live broadcast to ensure that we can conduct the virtual annual general meeting properly from here. The notary has had the technology explained to her and has been able to assess the technical arrangements for herself.
The quality of the video and audio transmission of the virtual annual general meeting and the availability of the investor portal may be subject to fluctuations over which the company has no control. If the disruption to the transmission originates from our side, we will inform you accordingly via our website. The invitation to today's virtual annual general meeting, including the agenda and the management's proposed resolutions, was published in the Federal Gazette on April 2nd, 2026, with the content required by law. It was also made available on the company's website, where you could and can find the other documents and information regarding the annual general meeting that are required to be made available.
A copy of each of these documents, as well as the confirmation of the Federal Gazette regarding the publication of the convening of the annual general meeting, has been submitted to the notary. The company has also notified the persons and institutions specified in Section 125 of the German Stock Corporation Act of the convening of the annual general meeting in a timely manner. I hereby declare that today's annual general meeting has been duly convened in compliance with the formal and deadline requirements in accordance with the law and the articles of association of BioNTech SE. Within the respective statutory periods, the company has not received any motions to amend the agenda that are subject to publication, nor any countermotions, nominations, or statements regarding the items on the agenda that are required to be made available. The list of participants is currently being compiled.
In addition to the votes presented by proxy holders, this also includes shareholders and shareholder representatives participating electronically, that is, those persons who are currently logged into our investor portal. I will announce the attendance figures no later than before the first vote. The list of participants will be available for our review on the investor portal in the List of Participants section following the announcement of the attendance figures. A copy of the list of participants will be provided to the notary. Subsequent changes will be appended to the list of participants as addenda, which will be treated in the same manner. If you have received multiple sets of login credentials for the investor portal, please note that you must log in to the investor portal separately using each set of credentials, particularly to exercise voting rights for all of your shares.
In the run-up to this annual general meeting, we once again gave our ADS holders the opportunity on a voluntary basis to submit questions regarding the items on the agenda via email by May 13, 2026, at 2:00 P.M., Central European Summer Time. The Management Board will address some of the points raised in the questions submitted during its speeches in order to address the key issues of concern to our ADS holders. Shareholders' right to information pursuant to Section 131, paragraph 1 of the German Stock Corporation Act may be exercised only at today's annual general meeting and, as I hereby expressly stipulate, exclusively via video communication. Following the reports of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board, a general debate on all items on the agenda will take place at today's annual general meeting.
During the general debate, our shareholders and shareholder representatives have the opportunity to exercise their right to information and to speak, as well as the right to submit motions and election proposals via video communication through the investor portal. Shareholders and shareholder representatives can use the investor portal to request the floor to exercise their rights to information and speech, as well as to submit motions and nominations in order to register to exercise these rights via video communication. Once you have submitted such a request, we will contact you to explain the next steps in detail. Please understand that this process will take a few minutes, and that we will first conduct a technical check of the connection and functionality of the video communication.
If functionality cannot be ensured, we reserve the right to reject the request to speak, the request for information or the motion or nomination. If functionality is confirmed, you will be added to the list of speakers and will then remain in a virtual waiting room until I call on you. Of course, you will still be able to follow the annual general meeting live from this virtual waiting room. I would like to ask shareholders or shareholder representatives who wish to speak on the agenda items today and have not yet indicated this to do so now by announcing their request to speak via the corresponding button on the investor portal. If you have any motions regarding the rules of procedure or the agenda, I ask you to submit them via the investor portal using the appropriate button.
This facilitates the handling of your motions and helps to ensure the smooth and efficient conduct of the annual general meeting. Of course, you may also request the floor during the course of the debate in the manner just described. I would like to briefly provide the following explanations regarding the voting procedure in advance. As the chair of the meeting, it is my responsibility pursuant to Section 15, paragraph 3 of the Articles of Association of BioNTech SE, to determine the order of the agenda items as well as the type and form of voting. Our shareholders and their proxies may exercise their voting rights via the investor portal by casting an electronic absentee ballot or by granting a proxy with instruction to the company's proxy holders. Absentee ballots may be cast, revoked, or amended via the investor portal until voting closes at today's annual general meeting.
Proxies and instructions to the proxy holders may be granted, amended, or revoked via the investor portal until the start of the voting at today's annual general meeting. Proxies with instructions to the proxy holders could be granted, amended, or revoked by mail or email, as well as through intermediaries via Swift until the end of yesterday. The voting result will be determined by the addition method, meaning that the yes votes and the no votes will be counted. The total number of valid votes cast on the share capital represented in the resolution will be determined by adding the valid yes votes cast and the valid no votes cast.
I will remind you again to cast your votes at the appropriate time. I would like to ask you now to cast your votes in a timely manner if you wish to vote yes or no to one or more proposed resolutions. Abstentions are not counted when calculating the required majorities and therefore, have no influence on the voting result. Attendance is also irrelevant for determining the voting results using the addition method. Voting on the agenda items will take place after the general debate has concluded. The counting of votes is performed by a data processing system. Shareholders or shareholder representatives participating in the meeting electronically are also granted the right at today's virtual annual general meeting to object to a resolution of the annual general meeting via electronic communication.
In addition, you can use a corresponding button on the investor portal to submit any request for information pursuant to Section 131, paragraph 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act. This option is available until the general debate is closed. Furthermore, you can exercise your right under Section 131, paragraph 5 of the German Stock Corporation Act by clicking the objection to unanswered questions button. In addition, shareholders can also authorize third parties via the investor portal to exercise shareholder rights on their behalf, as well as revoke previously granted powers of attorney. The use of the investor portal by a proxy requires that the proxy be provided with the appropriate login credentials.
Ladies and gentlemen, now that the formalities have been completed, we will proceed to the agenda, which was published in the Federal Gazette, along with the management's proposed resolutions and made available on the company's website. I may therefore assume that the agenda items are known, so I will refrain from reading them aloud. I will now begin with agenda item number 1: presentation of the adopted annual financial statements, the approved consolidated financial statements, and the combined management report for the company and the group, as well as the report of the supervisory board in each case for the 2025 financial year, respectively, as of 31 December 2025. The documents relating to this agenda item have been available on the company's website since the convening of this AGM. They can also be accessed during today's annual general meeting. Regarding agenda item number 1, I note the following.
The supervisory board has already approved the annual financial statement as of December 31, 2025, prepared by the management board and accompanied by the auditor's unqualified opinion, as well as the consolidated financial statements. The annual financial statements are thus adopted in accordance with Section 172, sentence 1 of the German Stock Corporation Act. The documents listed under agenda item 1 are therefore merely to be made available today's annual general meeting without requiring any further resolution. Ladies and gentlemen, we now turn to the supervisory board's report for the 2025 fiscal year.
The past year was a successful one for BioNTech. We have taken decisive steps to bring the company closer to its goal of becoming a multi-product company by 2030. Today, BioNTech stands on a strong foundation, both strategically and financially. Thanks to its robust liquidity position, BioNTech is very well positioned to continue its successful path in 2026. I would now like to provide you with an overview of some key aspects of the supervisory board's work during the last fiscal year. For the more formal remarks and further details, particularly regarding the specific activities of the supervisory board and its committees, I refer you to the written report of the supervisory board on pages 12 through 22 of the annual report for the 2025 fiscal year, which is available on the company's website.
Throughout the 2025 fiscal year, the Supervisory Board fulfilled its duties and obligations in accordance with the law, the articles of association, and the rules of procedure. The Supervisory Board continuously monitored the Management Board in its management of the company, provided it with regular advice, and addressed the company's strategic development. The cooperation with the Management Board was characterized in every respect by responsible and goal-oriented action. The Management Board fully fulfilled its reporting obligations to the Supervisory Board. Based on the Management Board's reports, we discussed in detail the business development as well as events of significance to the company. The Supervisory Board was directly and promptly involved in all decisions of fundamental importance to the company.
In fiscal year 2025, a total of 12 regular meetings of the Supervisory Board took place, five of which were in person, and the remaining meetings were held virtually. The regular meetings focused on the further development of the corporate strategy and the prioritization of the portfolio. In addition, the Supervisory Board discussed the expansion of oncology programs in late-stage development, which is primarily supported by the conclusion of the collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb. We also addressed the company's ongoing investments in the further development of COVID-19 vaccine and the associated strategic decisions regarding its adaption to seasonal virus variants. In addition, the Supervisory Board dealt with, among other things, the acquisition of CureVac and the integration of Biotheus.
To carry out its supervisory and advisory functions, the supervisory board has established four committees: an audit committee, a compensation, nomination, and corporate governance committee, a capital markets committee, and a product committee. For further details on the activities of the committees, please refer to the supervisory board's written report. The auditor, EY GmbH & Co. KG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, issued an unqualified audit opinion on the annual financial statements prepared by the management board, the dependency report, the consolidated financial statements, and a report on the situation of the group and the company. The auditor's report was discussed in the audit committee with the management board and the auditors. For our part, we have audited the annual financial statements, the dependency report, the consolidated financial statements, and a report on the financial and operational situation of the group and the company for the fiscal year 2025.
Based on the final results of our audit, we have no objections to raise and consider the auditor's assessment of the annual financial statements to be accurate. We have approved the annual financial statements prepared by the management board as well as the consolidated financial statements prepared by the management board. The former are thus adopted. The supervisory board also agrees with a report on the group's and the company's performance, including the non-financial report. Based on the final results of its review, the supervisory board also has no objections to the management board's statement regarding relationships with the affiliated companies in the dependency report. Following its own intensive review and discussion, the supervisory board has also endorsed the management board's proposal for the appropriation of profits to be presented of today's AGM. In summary, the 2025 fiscal year was marked by momentum in various areas.
These include significant progress in BioNTech's strategic direction, the further development of the pipeline, and the securing of a solid financial foundation. BioNTech is thus entering the next phase of development strengthened and will with full momentum. The company has several opportunities to create sustainable value by making highly innovative oncology products available to patients worldwide. A key example is BioNTech's partnership with BMS for the lead product candidate, pumitamig. Both strategically and operationally, it enables BioNTech to develop this candidate more broadly and rapidly. At the same time, it allows BioNTech to build a commercial organization in a focused and sustainable manner. With cash and marketable securities totaling EUR 17.2 billion as of the end of 2025, BioNTech has substantial resources that the company will invest in the next phase of development.
At the same time, we believe it's essential that BioNTech maintains a disciplined approach to resource allocation, even if this entails some business decisions that may be drastic. The supervisory board fully supports the management board's strategy of focusing on the defined priority areas. In March 2026, BioNTech announced that CEO Professor Dr. Uğur Şahin and Chief Medical Officer Professor Dr. Özlem Türeci will pass the baton and leave the company at the end of the year after 18 years of founding and building BioNTech. As BioNTech advances several late-stage product candidates towards commercialization, we support this decision of the two co-founders to seize the opportunity to dedicate their strength and fully and full attention to a new company dedicated to the research and development of next-generation mRNA candidates.
Dear Özlem, dear Ugur, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of the Supervisory Board for your contributions to our company. We, the Supervisory Board, and our colleagues on the Management Board could now look back on all of your and our shared successes. That would go beyond the scope of this occasion. Your dedication achievements have given rise to not to one, but to two successful companies. Throughout your careers, you have repeatedly demonstrated your innovative strength. You are exceptional founders, visionaries, scientists. It takes more than conventional templates to evaluate your work. I'm firmly convinced that with your innovative spirit, you will establish a third successful company that will continue to transform and have a lasting impact on medicine. We all are excited to work together with your co-company on next-generation combination therapy approaches.
At the same time, BioNTech must continue to be consistently positioned for the future. This also includes strategic decisions regarding network consolidations, which were not easy for either the management board or the supervisory board. What it needs to enter the next essential phase. For the position of the Chief Medical Officer, we've put the focus on candidates with a medical and scientific leadership competence with late-stage clinical development and high technology and product technologies. Further on, BioNTech must continue to. This includes also strategic decisions and these decisions is not a valuation of BioNTech employees. The contrary is the case. The decision is made by no means on their performance. BioNTech's employees have achieved extraordinary things for which we express our sincere gratitude.
These decisions were necessary to ensure that the company is not merely managed but actively shaped for the future in line with its strategy. We will ensure that any job cuts are handled as socially responsibly as possible, and that potential solutions are explored in collaboration with local and regional partners and policymakers to provide prospects to as many colleagues as possible. On behalf of Management Board and Supervisory Board, I would like to thank you for your constructive cooperation. Ladies and gentlemen, we now turn to the report of the Management Board. Its members will shortly explain their presentations to you and also provide an outlook for the future. It will also address individual items on today's agenda.
It will further report on the partial utilizations of the authorized Capital 2025, as well as the use of treasury shares and the ADSs in the fiscal year and in the first quarter of 2026, and address some of the questions submitted by ADS holders. I now give the floor to the chairman of the management board, Professor Dr. Ugur Sahin.
Thank you, Helmut. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders and shareholder representatives, I welcome you also on behalf of my colleagues of the Executive Board. I would like to extend a warm welcome to you today's annual general meeting of BioNTech. Today marks my final address to you as CEO at a BioNTech annual general meeting. I will first provide the customary overview of the past fiscal year. Afterwards, I would like to look back on the past 18 years since BioNTech was founded on our journey, our decisions, and the next phase of our company. Before we begin our report, we would like to point out that we will be making forward-looking statements at this annual general meeting.
As described on this slide of the presentation, these statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties detailed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report on Form 20-F. These statements include, but are not limited to, those relating to our financial forecasts and our expectations for the remainder of fiscal year 2026 and beyond, including the planned next steps in our pipeline programs. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in these statements. All information in this presentation is current as of the date of its preparation. Unless required by law, BioNTech disclaims any intention or responsibility to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained in this presentation in light of new information, future developments, or for any other reason. The vision with which we started aims to translate cutting-edge research into life-saving innovations.
Our corporate strategy is based on two pillars. First, we want to further strengthen our leading position in the market for COVID-19 vaccines, even though this market has shrunk in line with global demand. Second, we intend to use the proceeds to bring several approved products to market from our diversified development pipeline by 2030. Our focus here is on oncology. We are consistently implementing this corporate strategy. In the area of COVID-19 vaccines, we have delivered more than 5 billion vaccine doses worldwide since 2020 in collaboration with our partner, Pfizer, thereby continuing to make a significant contribution to global healthcare. At the same time, we are focused on oncology, specifically on a range of common cancers and have consistently advanced our pipeline.
Today, BioNTech has more than 25 ongoing phase II and phase III studies in oncology, as well as 17 clinical programs featuring different mechanisms of action and combination therapies. More on that shortly. We have also continued to advance our programs in the area of vaccine candidates against infectious diseases in indications with high unmet medical needs. At the same time, we have expanded our global partnerships to strategically complement our strength with a view to achieving global reach. In 2025 and early 2026, we made significant progress toward achieving our corporate goals. Firstly, we have maintained our global leadership position in the COVID-19 vaccine market. In collaboration with Pfizer, we have launched our variant-adapted vaccine. Our vaccine is now distributed in over 180 countries and regions and holds a market share of over 50% in key markets.
We are successfully advancing our oncology programs. Several of our 17 clinical programs entered late-stage development this fiscal year. Our clinical evidence base includes more than 4,000 patients. We expect several data updates from key late-stage studies in 2026. Thirdly, we have completed key strategic transactions, notably our partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb, also known as BMS. This has strengthened the execution of our Pemetrexed programs and reduced risks. We believe that with Pemetrexed as a combination partner, we can achieve a positive impact for patients across many tumor types with additional product candidates from our pipeline extending beyond current standards of care. Furthermore, we exceeded our raised revenue forecast for 2025 and closed the 2025 fiscal year with a financial position of more than EUR 17 billion in cash equivalents, and securities.
We have set a goal of bringing several cancer drugs to regulatory approval by 2030. BioNTech is well positioned to achieve this. We have a diversified oncology pipeline based on three therapeutic principles. Those are innovative immunomodulators, antibody-drug conjugates, so-called ADCs, and mRNA cancer immunotherapies. Each of our product candidates addresses different challenges in the treatment of cancer patients and as a standalone treatment approach can make a difference across various tumor types and cancer stages. We see particular potential in combination therapies that bring together product candidates from our pipeline with potentially complementary mechanisms of action. We differentiate ourselves from other companies by having a broad spectrum of product candidates that can be combined with each other and whose effects can be synergistic. I would like to briefly discuss our flagship program, pumitamig. pumitamig is a next-generation bispecific immunomodulator.
It combines two established mechanisms of action in a single molecule and acts, on the one hand, against cancer cell-mediated immunosuppression and on the other hand, against the tumor blood supply. Based on our clinical data to date, pumitamig demonstrates anti-tumor activity across a broad spectrum of cancers. We view pumitamig as an excellent combination partner for many other product candidates and active ingredients with mechanisms of action that complement each other and have the potential to create synergies. If development and approval are successful, this program could set new treatment standards in oncology across various tumor types. If we succeed in this, we could improve treatment outcomes for patients with various cancer indications. Early last year, we completed the acquisition of Biotheus, thereby fully integrating pumitamig into our pipeline.
In June 2025, we entered into a global 50/50 collaboration agreement with the international pharmaceutical company BMS for joint development and commercialization. The goal of this partnership is to fully realize the potential of pumitamig, accelerate its development, and enable a rapid market launch, leveraging the combined capabilities, expertise, and pipelines of both companies. In addition, the deal structure of the partnership reduces the risk of our research and development activities because costs are shared. The agreement also provides for an upfront payment of $1.5 billion, additional unconditional payments totaling $2 billion and up to $7.6 billion in further milestone payments. This partnership lays the foundation for continued sustainable investment in BioNTech's pipeline and for driving innovation forward. Our approach to oncology focuses on specific types of cancer.
These include lung and breast cancer as well as gynecological, urogenital, and gastrointestinal cancers. These are types of cancer with significant unmet medical needs. Millions of patients worldwide are waiting for better treatment options. Take lung cancer or breast cancer, for example. These diseases are not homogeneous entities. They encompass many different biological subtypes with different driver mutations, different immune profiles, and different disease courses. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work here. With our diversified pipeline, we aim to offer new therapeutic options for patients with different tumor types and at various stages of the disease, while also evaluating optimal combination therapies. Across our tumor focus areas, we have advanced more than 17 programs into late stage or regulatory relevant development phases. In addition to pumitamig, these include trastuzumab deruxtecan, gotistobart, autogene cevumeran, and other candidates.
From 2026 to 2030, we expect continuous updates from pipeline programs in late-stage clinical development, and thus a sequence of regulatory opportunities year after year across multiple cancer indications. BioNTech's active portfolio management focuses resources on those development programs that have the potential to help us achieve our goal of becoming a leading biopharmaceutical company with multiple oncology products by 2030. Our Chief Financial Officer, Ramón Zapata, will elaborate on this. I would like to take this opportunity to address our recent announcement regarding the consolidation of our manufacturing sites. BioNTech is currently in a transition phase on the path to becoming a commercial company with multiple approved products. This transition, along with other factors that are reducing manufacturing needs, necessitates changes that also affect our employees and their jobs. These include the announced closures of individual sites. Decisions like these are never easy for anyone.
We made them with a heavy heart and after careful analysis. We are very aware of how profoundly such decisions affect our employees and their families. Our employees at the affected sites have done an astounding job. For this, we feel great respect and gratitude. It was important to us to communicate this decision early on, even if not all implementation steps or possible alternatives have been fully explored yet. Regardless, the following applies. There must be socially responsible solutions for everyone affected. Transition periods BioNTech has gone through phases more than once where we had to find solutions. Our experience has always been that collaboration opens up opportunities that a company alone cannot achieve. We are grateful for the dialogue and cooperation with policymakers, the scientific community, and regional partners who are working with us to explore viable options for various locations.
Looking ahead to 2020. Looking at the year 2025, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all BioNTech employees and our collaboration partners for their dedication and outstanding work. We also extend our gratitude to the patients who have placed their trust in us and made our work possible through their participation in our clinical trials. Dear shareholders, developments of the past year do not stand alone. They are part of an extraordinary shared journey. That is why I would like now to take a broader view at the company's development since its founding and where BioNTech stands today. Özlem and I are doctors and scientists. Together with our scientific co-founder, Christoph Huber, our motivation was simple. We wanted to improve medicine through innovation. Even back then, we saw that cancer medicine was going to change toward more precise, personalized approaches, and innovative combination therapies.
As immunologists, we wanted to harness the mechanisms of the immune system that evolution has developed into a highly precise defense against pathogens and abnormal senescent cells, and make them usable for cancer immunology. When BioNTech was founded in 2008, this was not an established view. At that time, there was no clinical evidence that the immune system could be used therapeutically on a long-term basis for many types of tumors. We founded BioNTech with the goal of making a tangible difference for patients through new therapies. In 2008, we were able to attract strong investors and partners for our vision, such as Andreas and Thomas Strüngmann, Michael Motschmann, and Helmut Jeggle. In the early years, the focus was on building a broad engine of innovation. We conducted fundamental scientific research, developed RNA technologies, established new production processes, and prepared for clinical implementation.
At the same time, strategic corporate development was also a priority. We entered into partnerships with globally renowned and specialized pharmaceutical companies. This allowed us to co-finance our programs and, more importantly, to strategically complement our capabilities as a then young company. BioNTech Series A financing in 2017 with an international consortium of investors was one of the largest private biotech financings in Europe. It provided us with the capital base to evolve BioNTech from a startup with a technology platform into a clinical development company, with a clear focus on mRNA technologies, personalized cancer therapies, and immunomodulators. This was followed by the IPO on the Nasdaq at the end of 2019. That too was an important step. It provided us with additional financial resources, international visibility, and access to the capital markets to lead BioNTech into the next phase of development.
In early 2020, a new virus changed the world. When the first information about SARS-CoV-2 was published, it was clear to us that this could become a global crisis. We quickly decided to use our mRNA technology to develop a vaccine and brought it into clinical testing within weeks. This speed was only possible because we were able to build on over two decades of research and development in mRNA technologies. We knew that we would not be able to handle the worldwide phase III development of a pandemic vaccine and global supply on our own. That is why we entered into a partnership with Pfizer and built a network of suppliers. This partnership was crucial to making global development, regulatory approval, manufacturing, and supply on this scale possible.
Together with Pfizer, we were able to develop the world's first approved mRNA vaccine in the same year. We are grateful that we were able to contribute during the historic and exceptional situation. It was decisive that we had the work of our employees in research and development, the teams in Mainz, the production staff in Idar-Oberstein and Marburg, our colleagues in research and development, quality, logistics, and operations. At our German manufacturing sites alone, 2 billion RNA doses were produced at a speed and quality that many would not have thought possible before. In the wake of the pandemic, we have once again firmly refocused our strategy on oncology. That is where our scientific roots lie and where our greatest strength resides.
We recognized that while a pandemic vaccine is of enormous medical and economic significance, there will not be a sustained demand for it. We recognized early on that oncology is once again facing a fundamental transformation driven by new generations of ADCs, bispecific immunomodulators and rational combination therapies. We were aware that the competitive landscape would change rapidly due to medical advances. We further developed our strategy. It was important to remain strategically adaptable. We wanted not only to develop innovation internally, but also to identify and advance the best scientific approaches. We strategically deployed the funds generated from the COVID-19 vaccine business to strengthen and expand our pipeline through in-licensed candidates. This included programs such as pumitamig, gotistobart, and ADC-based approaches.
The goal was not simply continue with individual candidates, but to bring together product candidates with different mechanisms of action in such a way that differentiated combination therapies with high medical and economic potential emerge, thereby ensuring BioNTech's long-term competitiveness. Today, BioNTech is one of Europe's largest biotechnological companies with a market capitalization of over EUR 20 billion, a strong capital base, and continued revenue of more than EUR 2 billion from the COVID-19 vaccine business. The company has strong technology platforms, a diversified clinical pipeline, and a global organization. We have massively expanded our development organization from a development model primarily anchored in Germany to a global organization with clinical networks and operational structures in Europe, the U.S., the U.K., Turkey, China, and Australia. BioNTech now has a diversified portfolio of late-stage product candidates covering a wide range of cancer types.
We selected these drug candidates because their mechanisms of action complement each other and have the potential to create synergies in cancer treatment. This positions BioNTech well and offers multiple opportunities to demonstrate clinically differentiated profiles in key tumor indications, enable new treatment standards, and achieve the goal of bringing several products to market and thus to patients by 2030. A key component is our partnership with BMS. It co-finances the global development program for pumitamig and complements our scientific and product strategy strength with global late-stage development. At the same time, we have invested in our innovation engine with dedicated teams and state-of-the-art facilities, whether for antibodies, ADCs or mRNA. We were able to create value for patients, society and shareholders while laying a foundation on which BioNTech can continue to build in the coming years. We are grateful for this.
Our thanks goes above all to our employees, colleagues and partners whose dedication, expertise and trust have made this journey possible. BioNTech is evolving from a primarily research and development-oriented biotechnology company into a company capable of guiding several of its own products toward approval, market launch and commercialization. The transition phase is a normal step in the development of successful biotech companies. BioNTech finds itself in an extraordinary situation. The company has not just one, but multiple product candidates and combination therapies with significant medical potential for various types of cancer in late-stage clinical trials. It has diversified technology platforms capable of generating future product candidates. Furthermore, the company has sufficient capital to develop its pipeline toward market approval. Late-stage clinical development, large-scale regulatory trials, regulatory preparation, and the establishment of commercial structures require significant investment. When multiple programs enter pre-approval studies simultaneously, fundamental strategic questions arise.
How should capital be allocated? What capabilities must the organization build, and which value drivers should be prioritized? At this stage, companies face different strategic options for their future positioning, depending on whether the focus is more on immediate value realization, long-term innovation, or a combination of both. We have discussed various options for BioNTech with the management board and supervisory board. The company has decided to focus on programs with high potential and prospects for approval and market entry by 2030. Ramon will speak about strategic capital allocation later on. A strategic decision of this magnitude changes an organization, capital allocation, and the way innovation will be developed in the future.
We are aware that the transition to a commercial company entails many changes and challenges for all employees. For Özlem and me, it's important that this transition into the next phase of the company is orderly, responsible, and measured, and that opportunities are created to preserve value potential outside that strategic focus and to further develop it in the interest of employees, patients, and shareholders. In closing, I would like to thank our employees and everyone involved in the company's success for their dedication, for their perseverance, and for their exceptional performance over many years. BioNTech has become what it is today thanks to people who have taken on responsibility and made success possible. For this, I feel great respect and deep gratitude.
My thanks also go to the patients who participated in our clinical trials, as well as to the healthcare professionals who play a key role in testing the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of our therapeutic approaches. I would also like to personally thank you, our shareholders, for your trust, your patience, and your support, especially during times of transition of 18 years. I hand over to Helmut Jeggle. Dear Ugur Sahin, many thanks. I now hand over to Ramón Zapata, the company's Chief Financial Officer.
Thank you very much, Helmut. Dear shareholders, shareholder representatives, ladies and gentlemen, a very warm welcome from me as well to our annual general meeting today. I am delighted to be here for my first AGM as BioNTech's Chief Financial Officer, having joined the company in mid-2025. I will also be speaking in English rather than German for this presentation. Looking back on the 2025 fiscal year, we can report significant progress towards realizing our vision. We have been able to significantly advance our portfolio with more than 25 phase II and phase III clinical trials ongoing. As Ugo mentioned, particular focus has been placed on the development of our bispecific immunomodulator candidate, pumitamig. Before I delve into the figures for the 2025 fiscal year, I would like to point out that in my report today, I will always be referring to the BioNTech Group.
This includes BioNTech SE, along with all its subsidiaries. Since the development of BioNTech SE is largely dependent on the development of the group, we will refrain from discussing its individual performance separately. Please note that all figures will be in euros unless otherwise stated. 2025 was a strong year for BioNTech. We exceeded our revenue guidance, which we had raised during the year. We were in line with our already reduced R&D and SG&A expenses guidance for the year. These results arise from our active portfolio management and strategy where we are focusing our resources on programs that have the biggest potential to elevate patient outcomes and deliver value for our shareholders. Also important is our tailored innovative partnership model, which contributed meaningful revenue and cost sharing across multiple programs.
Our total revenues in 2025 were EUR 2.9 billion, a slight increase from the prior year, despite the year-over-year decrease in COVID-19 vaccine revenues. The COVID-19 vaccine revenues decline was partially offset by the recognition of EUR 613 million in revenues derived from our collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb, which I'll refer to as BMS from here on. R&D expenses were approximately EUR 2.1 billion, which is a slight decrease from the prior year, despite the acceleration of our late-stage oncology programs. This was enabled by cost savings resulting from our active portfolio management as well as positive effects resulting from cost sharing with BMS for the development of pumitamig. We continue to drive value creation through active portfolio management, shifting toward later stage risk programs that have the potential to underpin the next phase of BioNTech's development.
In 2026, our first quarter performance was in line with our expectations and reflects the seasonal demand pattern we expect across quarters for COVID-19 vaccines. Revenues for the quarter of 2026 were EUR 118 million. This is compared to EUR 183 million in the same period last year. The decrease was primarily driven by lower demand from our COVID-19 vaccines as expected. R&D expenses were EUR 557 million, compared to EUR 526 million in the prior year period. The increase was driven by higher spending on our immuno-oncology and ADC programs, in particular pumitamig and gotistobart, as well as R&D costs from BioNTech China, previously named Biotheus, and CureVac, both of which were acquired in 2025.
The R&D spend related to CureVac pertains to inherited ongoing programs that we're currently completing. These increases were partly offset by lower expenses from our COVID-19 vaccine collaboration with Pfizer. On an adjusted basis, R&D expenses were EUR 527 million, excluding one impairment charge for an intangible asset. SG&A expenses were EUR 151 million compared to EUR 121 million in the prior year period. The increase was mainly driven by our ongoing commercial build-up and the post-acquisition inclusion of operations from BioNTech China and CureVac. We ended the first quarter with EUR 16.8 billion in cash equivalents, and security investments. Our strong financial position continues to support sustained investments across our pipeline, including late-stage oncology programs and our preparations for commercialization. Turning to next slide, during our Q1 earnings call, we reaffirmed our previously disclosed full-year 2026 financial guidance.
All guidance is provided on an adjusted non-IFRS basis. We expect total revenues for 2026 in the range of EUR 2 billion-EUR 2.3 billion. As stated at the beginning of the year, we anticipate lower COVID-19 vaccine revenues compared to 2025, driven by declines in both the U.S. and European markets. The U.S. market continues to be competitive and dynamic. In Europe, we expect lower revenues as we defend our market share and begin managing the transition away from multi-year contracts. In Germany specifically, we recognize direct sales of our COVID-19 vaccines as revenues. Hence, the anticipated declines in our sales of COVID-19 vaccines in the country will have a direct impact on our top line, whereas revenues outside of Germany only affect our top line as part of the 50% gross profit split with our partner, Pfizer.
Revenues from our collaboration with BMS, from the pandemic preparedness contract with the German government, and from our service businesses are expected to remain stable. On revenue cadence, we anticipate COVID-19 vaccine revenue phasing to be similar to last year, with the last four months of the year driving the majority of the full-year revenue figure. The BMS collaboration payment of EUR 613 million is expected to be recognized in the third quarter of 2026. We expect R&D expenses in the range of EUR 2.2 billion-2.5 billion. Investment will be concentrated on our priority late-stage programs, pumitamig, gotistobart, our ADC pipeline, and mRNA cancer immunotherapies. We will continue to apply disciplined portfolio prioritization across all development stages. We expect adjusted SG&A expenses in the range of EUR 700 million-800 million, reflecting our continued commercial build-out in oncology.
During the fiscal year 2025 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, we conducted 3 types of capital transactions. 2 in connection with the acquisition of CureVac, and 1 in connection with our equity-settled employee participation programs. Furthermore, in January 2025, we used the company's American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, also in the context of the acquisition of Biotheus. This had already been reported at the last annual general meeting. In connection with the acquisition of CureVac, the authorized capital 2025 was partially utilized, and the company's share capital was increased twice in quick succession in December 2025, each time excluding shareholders' subscription rights in exchange for contributions in kind.
In total, this resulted in an increase in the company's share capital of 10,475,287 against contribution of 195,325,137 CureVac shares. The new shares issued from the authorized capital 2025 serve as backing for ADSs of the company, each representing one share, which were offered to the shareholders of CureVac in exchange for their CureVac shares. Based on the authorization granted under agenda item 10 of the 2024 annual general meeting, we used 1,552,300 shares held in treasury, which were converted to ADSs and transferred during the post-offer reorganization in the first quarter of 2026 in exchange for the acquisition of the remaining CureVac shares, excluding shareholders' subscription rights.
Together, the ADSs used for the acquisition of CureVac represent about 4.64% of our share capital. The consideration comprised in total 12,027,587 ADSs with a total value of approximately EUR 987 million and a cash payment of EUR 4 million, resulting in a total value of approximately EUR 1 billion. Using ADSs as acquisition currency allowed us to preserve our cash resources for increasing investment in our late-stage priority programs and strategic capital allocation. The exclusion of subscription rights was necessary to execute the acquisition efficiently and in line with the applicable regulatory framework. Enabling a swift and flexible completion of the acquisition. The shareholders' interests were safeguarded by setting the valuation ratio at an appropriate level based on a comprehensive assessment of CureVac's intrinsic value and on the price of BioNTech ADSs on Nasdaq.
For further information, please refer to the written report of the management boards on partial utilization of the authorized capital 2025, published on the company's website. The second type of capital transaction was related to the CureVac transaction-related award. In connection with the acquisition of CureVac, we granted an award to former management and selected senior leaders of CureVac for their support during this transaction. Using 57,211 ADSs held in treasury at a value of approximately EUR 4.5 million, or about 0.02% of our share capital at year-end 2025. The ADSs were used in accordance with the authorization granted under agenda item 10 of the 2024 annual general meeting. Excluding shareholder subscription rights, which allowed us to grant a standard incentive for the transaction.
Finally, the third type of capital transaction in 2025 related to equity-settled employee participation programs. We transferred 822,038 ADSs held in treasury to settle obligations under our equity-settled participation programs, ESOP 2018, the second tranche of the IncentU program, the BioNTech Founder Program, and the long-term incentive programs LTI 2020, LTI 2021, and the first tranche of LTI 2024. This means that we issued these ADSs in accordance with the authorization granted under agenda item 10 of the 2024 annual general meeting, excluding shareholder subscription rights to employees participating in the programs. The exclusion of subscription rights was necessary in this context, as the ADSs were issued only to specific individuals eligible under the programs.
The issue price per ADSs for our option-based programs corresponded to the lowest price on the exercise date and for our RSU-based programs to the lowest price on the last trading day before the settlement date. Further details on these programs can be found in our annual report 2025, published on the company's website. In total, these transfers represented approximately 0.32% of our share capital at year-end 2025, corresponding to a value of around EUR 82.7 million. Apart from these measures and the acquisition of BioNTech, which had already been reported at the last annual general meeting, no other capital market authorizations were utilized in the fiscal year 2025.
The ADSs used had already been repurchased by the company before the beginning of the 2025 fiscal year, primarily under our 2023 share repurchase program, this has already been reported to the 2024 annual general meeting. In addition to the post-offer reorganization in connection with the acquisition of CureVac, capital transactions in the first quarter of 2026 were limited to the settlements under our employee participation programs. As in 2025, we used ADSs held in treasury, which had already been repurchased before the beginning of 2025 fiscal year, to settle obligations under the employee participation programs LTI 2021 and ESOP 2018, in accordance with the authorization granted under agenda item 10 of the 2024 annual general meeting, excluding shareholders' subscription rights.
In total, 6,621 ADSs were transferred, less than 0.01% of our share capital, with a value of approximately EUR half a million. Apart from these measures, no other capital market authorizations were utilized in the first quarter of 2026. Before I move on to our approach to capital allocation, I would like to briefly address agenda items 9, 10, and 11. Today, we are seeking your approval on the following matters. Under agenda item 9, we are proposing to renew the authorization allowing for virtual annual general meetings. The company has consistently had positive experiences with the virtual format, which has established itself as a modern and sustainable meeting format and has since become a widely accepted standard. The virtual format has proven to be an efficient and legally compliant alternative to in-person meetings for the company.
International shareholders in particular benefit from this option, which makes the virtual format especially attractive for the company as an internationally oriented enterprise whose ADSs are listed in the U.S. on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. We therefore propose renewing the authorization to hold virtual annual general meetings, but limited to two years, to ensure that our shareholders have a say in the format of the annual general meeting at regular intervals. Under agenda item 10, the management board and supervisory board propose to revoke the existing authorized capital 2025, which was partially utilized, and to replace it with a new authorized capital 2026 in the amount of 50% of the current share capital. The proposal is intended to provide the company with the necessary flexibility regarding its financing, both consistently and beyond the year 2026.
In a challenging competitive environment, as well as to enable the acquisition of attractive targets in the future in a manner that preserves liquidity, ensure that going forward, authorized capital in the maximum amount and for the maximum period permitted will continue to be available on an ongoing basis. Thereby providing the company with the necessary financial flexibility in a challenging competitive environment. As with the authorized capital 2025, the option to exclude subscription rights when issuing new shares will be limited to a total of 10% of the share capital to protect shareholders from dilution of their shareholding. On the agenda item 11, we ask for your approval to enter into a domination and profit and loss transfer agreement, hereinafter also referred to as the VPLTA, between BioNTech SE and its wholly-owned subsidiary, BioNTech Discovery GmbH.
Through the VPLTA, the subsidiary places its management under the control of the parent company. Thus, BioNTech SE is entitled to issue instructions to the subsidiary's management. The subsidiary is obligated in accordance with Section 301 of the German Stock Corporation Act to transfer its profits to BioNTech SE, while BioNTech SE is obligated to offset any annual net loss of the subsidiary arising during the term of the agreement. The intended conclusion of the VPLTA contributes to integrating the aforementioned subsidiary even more closely into the corporate structure than before. Its primary purpose is to establish a corporate tax and trade tax group, which enables the offsetting of profits arising at the subsidiary level against any losses at the parent company level.
In addition, the VPLTA is intended to serve as a basis for organizational integration, which is a prerequisite for a VAT group and would also have positive tax implications. We have thoroughly examined how the agreement would affect the company in detail. This includes, among other things, an analysis of the tax, commercial, and corporate law implications, which you can find along with further details in the joint report on the VPLTA prepared by the management board of BioNTech SE and the management of the subsidiary. This report, along with the other documents subject to disclosure, is available on the company's website. The management board and the supervisory board have jointly concluded that the conclusion of the VPLTA is in the best interest of the company, and therefore, ask for your approval today. With this, I would like to conclude my remarks on agenda items nine through 11.
Let me now discuss our approach to capital allocation. I would like to highlight 3 key components of our approach to creating long-term shareholding value. The first component is focus R&D investments to maximize the potential of our pipeline. We actively manage our portfolio, focusing our resources on programs that have the greatest potential to elevate patient outcomes. This means increasing investments into our late-stage priority programs, namely, pumitamig, gotistobart, our ADC assets, mRNA cancer immunotherapies, and their respective combinations, while remaining cost-efficient outside of those priorities. The second component sees us mobilizing our balance sheet as a statement of confidence in the business. We are initiating a share repurchase program of American Depositary Shares up to an amount of $1 billion over the coming 12 months. Let me walk you through some principles that guided this decision. One is opportunistic flexibility.
This program gives us the ability to deploy capital during times when our share price may be disconnected from intrinsic company value. Another principle is that our pipeline remains the primary driver of value. The buyback is supportive of the share price, but it is not determinative. The real value creation story at BioNTech remains the clinical execution of our oncology pipeline. Also, disciplined capital management. This program complements our R&D investment. We retain full optionality to advance our pipeline, execute partnerships, and explore corporate development opportunities. Our balance sheet, with EUR 16.8 billion in cash equivalents, and security investments, gives us the capacity to do all this simultaneously. In short, the share repurchase program reflects confidence in our science, capital management discipline, and a commitment to delivering long-term value for our shareholders.
The third key component of our capital allocation strategy relates to the efficient management of our manufacturing network. Ugur has already spoken about this, and I want to add the operational context. As our company has evolved, moving from pandemic-era manufacturing at scale to one of the diversified oncology-focused pipeline, our manufacturing footprint needs to evolve with it. After a thorough assessment, we identified sites where capacity is expected to become significantly underutilized or idle over the next 24 months, and the decision was made to exit operations at those sites. This include our sites in Idar-Oberstein, Marburg, and Singapore, as well as the CureVac sites. This affects approximately 1,800 colleagues, people who have been fundamental to what BioNTech has achieved.
I want to be clear that we did not take that decision lightly, and we are committed to handle this process with the full respect and social responsibility that our colleagues deserve, in close dialogue with employee representatives at each site. In addition, for each site, we are actively exploring divestment options, including a partial or full sale. The savings expected from these decisions are not an end in themselves. They are intended to fund the next chapter, advancing our growing late-stage oncology pipeline towards commercialization, and ultimately towards reaching patients. We expect cost savings from these decisions to ramp up over time, potentially reaching approximately EUR 500 million in recurring annual savings upon full implementation by 2029, excluding exit costs, which will be recorded as incurred. Our commercial and clinical drug supply is not affected by this decision.
Future supply for clinical manufacturing of mRNA-based candidates will be covered by BioNTech's broader manufacturing network, for example, in Mainz. Supply for our COVID-19 vaccine will be fully handled by our partner Pfizer from the end of 2026. These plans reflect our commitment to building a company that is both scientifically ambitious and operationally sustainable, a company that can become the multi-product company we are working towards by 2030. As we look across the 3 horizons on this slide, we are energized by the progress we have made to date and the path ahead. We are making progress toward executing our strategy. We are advancing key programs into pivotal stage, leveraging our partnership with BMS and our fortified balance sheet to fund our pipeline.
From 2026 through 2029, we will drive execution at scale and speed, advancing combination therapy trials, accelerating pivotal trial execution, building tumor indication-specific portfolios, and executing our first oncology launches. By 2030, our goal is to be a diversified, multi-product global pharma-biopharmaceutical company addressing the high unmet medical needs of cancer patients worldwide. BioNTech's robust financial position empowers us to pursue that goal. We remain fully committed to translating our science into survival for patients. On that note, we are now moving to the Q&A session. Before we get to our live questions, we would like to address the questions we received from our ADS holders in the lead-up to our annual general meeting. ADS holders had the opportunity to submit questions to BioNTech via email.
In this context, we would now like to address the questions we received from ADS holders and shareholder representative organizations, including SdK, the German Association for the Protection of Securities Holders, DSW, the German Association for the Protection of Securities Ownership, and the Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany. The first question is from Mr. Tüngler of DSW on our manufacturing consolidation plans. You recently announced that you will cease vaccine production in Germany. This is certainly economically understandable at first. How will we specifically benefit from the production and distribution of vaccines through our cooperation partners in the future? The decisions were taken after careful assessment and underline our commitment to continuously steer our capacities in support of our strategy to become a multi-product company by 2030. They also reflect our commitment to patients and shareholders to foster sustainable innovation and value creation.
These decisions will benefit the business through cost savings and the optimization of operational efficiencies. These savings are intended to further support the advancements of our oncology pipeline towards commercialization. Our established manufacturing network ensures continued supply of COVID-19 vaccines and our clinical pipeline. The commercial COVID-19 vaccine production will be fully covered by our partner Pfizer at their sites in Europe and the U.S. The supply of our mRNA-based candidates will be covered by our existing capacities, like in Mainz. Additionally, we will use our broader partner network. Regarding capital allocation, Mr. Schmidt asked the following question: You are planning a share buyback of up to $1 billion. What is the total value of outstanding employee programs slash stock option programs combined? To what extent will the buyback program be used to cover this?
Theoretically, the percentage share of major shareholders in BioNTech will increase due to the buyback. Will major shareholders, AT, IMPF, Medine GmbH, sell shares? Could BioNTech directly purchase shares from the major shareholders, of course, at market price, or would all transactions have to be conducted through the stock exchange? Let me start with a question on share-based payment programs. In line with market practice, we provide share-based payment arrangements as a means of our compensation and incentive scheme. Detailed information on this, including their terms and conditions for the development of outstanding awards, can be found in Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements in BioNTech's 2025 annual report. Part of the repurchased shares of our share buyback program can also be used to fund our share-based compensation programs.
This allows us to meet our equity obligations without issuing new shares and thereby avoiding unnecessary dilution to our existing shareholders. Our share buyback program is designed to comply with the safe harbor requirements of SEC Rule 10b5-1. We will not make any share repurchase outside of the plan and mandated a broker to execute it. On the last question, whether major shareholders will sell shares, obviously, we cannot comment on behalf of shareholders about whether they will or will not sell shares. On a related topic, Mr. Schmidt of SdK asked, "The SdK would prefer a dividend payment." Because according to the spokesperson, there is no empirical evidence so far that share buybacks permanently increase the share price.
Wouldn't it be fair to use at least part of the money for our first dividend? We continuously review the options to return capital to our shareholders. At this stage, we believe share buybacks are the most suitable tool, allowing us to return capital in a flexible and disciplined way. As we move towards sustainable profitability, we will reassess the most appropriate forms of capital return. On our cash position, Mr. Schmidt wanted to know the following. In general, as mentioned, you still have a very reassuring financial cushion of approximately EUR 16 billion. However, this is EUR 73 million lower than the previous year. How high were the negative currency effects?
To what extent will future expenses in the same currency offset the accumulated currency losses, such that when you incur expenses, like in the U.S. or China, you could potentially achieve book gains? In December 2025, our cash equivalents and securities were EUR 17.2 billion, compared with EUR 17.4 billion in 2024. During the 2025 financial year, we recorded Forex losses of approximately $48 million in the financial result from U.S. dollar investments at BioNTech SE, which were naturally hedged by operating U.S. dollar liabilities, the impact was partially compensated in the overall P&L. We cannot predict the Forex impact of our growing business in China and the United States. As a general principle, we actively manage transactional Forex risk across the group using natural hedges and where appropriate, Forex derivatives to limit this effect on our operating results.
One request from Mr. Schmidt regarding our expenses was to provide a rough estimate of the expected R&D and other costs for our share of pumitamig in 2026, 2027, and 2028. We do not provide multi-year research and development expenditure guidance for pumitamig specifically or our pipeline as a whole. We believe this is a responsible governance decision. As you know, in a clinical development environment where trial design, enrollment speeds, regulatory interactions, and competitive landscapes evolve constantly, committing externally on our multi-year cost estimates would not be grounded in the scientific and operational realities we face. Another question from Mr. Schmidt was related to the write-offs of, for T-Pam, one of our ADC candidates. "I noticed that you made write-offs on T-Pam amounting to EUR 85 million. However, the project is still listed in the tables. What happened?
Was it partially unsuccessful or not as promising, so the revenue potential is lower? Please explain the details." The write-offs on T-Pam were driven by updates we made to our commercial forecast assumptions, meaning we revised our expectations around the product's future revenue potential, which triggered the impairment charge. We continue to view this product candidate as a strategic opportunity to build and establish our commercial infrastructure, paving the way for future launches. Another question from Mr. Schmidt which we received is the following: "Are you currently blocked in terms of new partnerships? Do you first need to clarify the entire situation in terms of who will own which shares in the end, what funds might flow, and also who will succeed as CEO and CMO as the previous guarantors of successful development?
Because a similar deal as for pumitamig-like for gotistobart or T-Pam, T-Pam can probably only be concluded if all these questions are clarified. Do you see it similarly? Are you looking for potential further partnerships that would both share risks and bring additional financial resources similar to the BMS deal? Related to the potential partnerships for gotistobart or T-Pam, we are already in partnerships with OncoC4 and DualityBio respectively. We partnered with BMS on pumitamig, as this is an asset which is fully owned by BioNTech, given the acquisition of Biotheus. Ugur's and Özlem's transition from BioNTech's Management Board would not affect our current clinical pipeline, and it would not impact the initiation of any new partnerships. We have many partnerships ongoing at this time across our oncology pipeline, and we are open to further partnerships.
This is dependent on a variety of factors and must be in BioNTech's best interests. A further question was raised regarding BioNTech's global access to medicine's commitment. Mr. Massa from the Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany, in conjunction with Doctors Without Borders and Bread for the World, asked why BioNTech has not yet published a clearly defined global access to medicine strategy with concrete measurable goals, particularly given the company's positioning as a global healthcare company. We recognize the importance of a clear access framework. As we transition towards commercialization of our pipeline, we are continuing to develop an approach that is robust, practical, and appropriate to our future product launches. Another question from Mr. Massa was which specific technologies or patents have been transferred to the Global South?
BioNTech is directly transferring our mRNA vaccine manufacturing technology to our facility in Rwanda, which is equipped with manufacturing solutions for the manufacture of mRNA drug substance, drug per formulation, and drug product filing. With this, I will hand over to Ugur for more press submitted questions.
On Answering, first, I want to emphasize that BioNTech's vision, strategy, and pipeline remain unchanged. BioNTech is well on track to get closer to its goal of becoming a multiproduct company with early as well as late-stage clinical assets. We are expecting 6 data updates throughout the year, so from clinical studies for a candidate in the late clinical development. This combination, Miss, related to that, Mr. Tüngler has also asked, if you're saying it is about the transition into a commercial stage company and a new area at BioNTech starts, the question arises when this transition will actually take place. When do we expect that a marketing of first commercial oncology products will be possible? This transition is already underway. We built out commercial oncology functions more than 1 year ago in the area of oncology.
The first potential launches, for example, T-Pam, give us as an important strategic opportunity to set up the infrastructure and to prepare the company optimally for future launches. It is also important that until 2027, we expect certain data readouts, and this could result in certain results in market updates. This also holds true for gotistobart and pumitamig and other priority assets. We have a topic that is interesting for SdK as well as Mr. Schmidt is asking the following. I think the cooperation with Boehringer is really exciting. I don't really know how it is exactly structured. I interpret it as BioNTech providing pumitamig, while Boehringer takes care of the studies and presumably also pays for them.
It must be clarified in the event of success who will receive what share of the potential revenue from a new combination and whether you will at least have some say in the further development and marketing. We have already begun several combination trials of pumitamig with assets from our in-house oncology pipeline. It is important to reiterate that the collaboration agreement with BMS provides the option to evaluate pumitamig as part of combination therapies with third-party product candidates. With This flexibility enables us to find the best opportunities to improve outcomes for patients. For this collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, it's important to understand that this is part of an exploratory phase I/II clinical trial for ES-SCLC.
This means that it is in a very early phase of clinical development and is therefore premature to discuss commercialization. Regarding the next question of Mr. Schmidt, this is related to clinical designs. In many of your clinical studies, it is not noticeable that the endpoint is progression-free survival or the response rate to the therapy. In my opinion, there will hardly be any approvals unless there is a significant improvement in overall survival compared to existing therapies. Do you agree with this? Why don't you generally use survival rate as endpoint? First of all, overall survival is the gold standard, and therefore it is of high importance. However, in many indications, such as NSCLC, PFS and OS is highly correlated historically.
BioNTech will continue to work closely with FDA and other regulators to design our studies in careful way, balancing probability of success, speed to market, and what is required for commercial success. Mr. Schmidt is asking a question regarding pemetrexed. Regarding pemetrexed, many critical studies compared to the current standard of care. You often mention that you see a much greater positive effect in combinations. I understand that combinations with other drugs, especially new drugs, carry significantly higher risks. Isn't there a risk that you won't achieve a significant improvement against the standard of care, and that this will only become evident with, for example, novel-novel combinations? Are you confident that pemetrexed alone is significantly better than the products already mentioned on the market? What happens if you cannot show a significant improvement over the competition? Wouldn't the combination studies be more or less doomed?
It has been agreed with the regulators that progression-free survival is sufficient. It is a great question. The answer is strongly connected to our strategy for pemetrexed. We are confident that pemetrexed has competitive standalone activity, which is why we are evaluating it directly against standard of care. This pillar of the development plan is aimed to obtain marketing approval and commercial launch as soon as possible because registration and approval is easier in combination with SOC chemotherapy than with novel combinations. It is easier than a novel combination. At the same time, the biology suggests that pemetrexed benefit might be further amplified in novel combination approaches. That is where we see especially strong potential. Furthermore, Mr. Schmidt would like to know whether we are focusing on lung cancer.
This is a challenging indication with a difficult disease progression. The question is if it wouldn't it be better to choose the simpler indications first instead of immediately tackling the big risky type projects. Lung cancer is indeed a challenging tumor type. Importantly, our strategy to select indications is driven by where a product candidate has, first of all, the strongest biological rationale, and secondly, a strong potential to address unmet medical need. For context, lung cancer is a difficult setting, but it is also one of the areas of highest unmet need. Worldwide, there are 2.5 million new cases every year and 1.8 million deaths globally. Despite progress to provide novel treatments, outcomes in advanced diseases remain poor for many patients. The decision is fundamentally biology-led, data-driven, and patient-focused.
We prioritize programs where the mechanistic rationale, biomarker profile, and early efficacy signals suggest the best probability of success and the greatest potential of clinical impact to a wider number of patients. Now a question regarding how we differentiate to our competitors. Mr. Schmidt is saying, "Samid has a similar product like pemetrexed and has received approval in China. I believe your product has advantages compared to competitors. Would you agree? Why haven't you also submitted approval application in China? Biotheus, your subsidiary acquired in 2025, should also have good chances with a potentially even better product.
This would probably be the fastest way to get pumitamig approved, and you could somewhat alleviate doubts about its success or what speaks against it. From a biological perspective, our asset, pumitamig, is differentiated from Summit's asset, ivonesimab, as it targets PD-L1 and VEGF-A, while ivonesimab targets PD-1 and VEGF-A. We believe that we are differentiated from competitors in several ways. First of all, with our clinical development strategy and the breadth of phase III trials across indications that we have ongoing. Second, we have a strong partnership with BMS to execute this clinical development strategy and to accelerate bringing pumitamig to market in multiple indications. Third, we have a deep pipeline of agents for combination approaches and flexibility within the collaboration with BMS around combining pumitamig with potential third-party assets. Lastly, we have a strong cash position to fund robust development.
Regarding our China plans, we are guiding to an interim analysis from the ongoing phase III China-only 1L TNBC trial later this year. It is important to remember that this interim analysis is event-driven, and we will disclose the results when they are available. Global launch sequence strategy is critical to the optimization of an asset's value. Timing of our China launch will be considered as part of the global launch sequence strategy for pumitamig and aligned with our partner, BMS. Mr. Schmidt has another question regarding the ongoing combination studies involving pumitamig.
He asks that assuming positive phase II data from novel-novel combinations we were that were generated from pumitamig against standard of care, whether this could potentially enable an accelerated path to market for the novel combinations, possibly without the need for phase III studies, or whether phase III trials would still be required given the novel-novel nature of these combinations. These are excellent questions. Thank you. We are checking them in the progress of our clinical development strategy. It's important, though, phase I and II trials have an exploratory in nature and are not head-to-head versus standard of care. Given the stage of development, it would be premature to discuss paths to market for our novel-novel combinations. I hand over to Helmut, who will answer further questions from our shareholders.
These are the questions submitted before by email. A question by Mr. Tüngler. Why is it not possible for Sahin and Özlem Türeci to continue developing themselves within BioNTech according to their vision? It is understandable that their role of a CEO, especially in the current phase of BioNTech, is only partially compatible with the work of researchers. Why a fresh start alongside or after BioNTech? BioNTech has, is focusing on the continued pipeline of oncology, including antibody-drug conjugates and other therapies. BioNTech brings this to approval on the market. Ugur and Özlem concentrate here on developing a technology that does not exist yet today. Next question. To what extent will BioNTech be involved in the new company, and how will we participate in its success?
The aim is to provide both companies with opportunities to collaborate on combination approaches involving their respective product candidates. There should be made possible several approaches. Here, new complementary and comparable approaches are included. BioNTech would bring in new rights and also mRNA innovations with disruptive potential. In exchange, BioNTech would receive a minority stake and other forms of consideration, such as milestones and royalties. This structure is aimed to create added value for the shareholders. Furthermore, there was a question of whether BioNTech employees are being deployed within BNTX to support the development of new company and what measures BioNTech is taking to prevent conflicts of interest, as well as a loss of know-how after the founders establish their own company. No, there will not be implemented any employees afterwards. This transition takes place under the common structure.
The analysis, planning, and implementation takes place by involving committees, cooperation with the supervisory board, and the capital market requirements, including regulatory and control mechanism, and also avoiding conflicts of interest and applying to arm's length conditions. Next question by Andreas Schmidt from SDW and was already asked in a similar way by Andreas Schmidt. It concerns the IP rights. An important topic for us shareholders is that Dr. Türeci and Dr. Sahin will be leaving BioNTech. Personally, I understand such a step, but what are the patents or what shares of the patents will remain with the founders? The IP rights, including patents, trademarks, and technology platforms, are assets of BioNTech Group. They do not belong personally to the co-founders, Professor Ugur Sahin or Professor Özlem Türeci.
Last question from today is set by Ms. Dasa from the Dachverband für kritische Aktionäre and shareholders. How strong is the compensation of the board, and why aren't there any clear, controllable APIs published? The answer on this: The compensation is coupled to the progress of the clinical development because the targets of the company may include the approval of products. It is not bound to a success because this includes a disciplinary control, the ESG factor, and in the case of LTIs and the shareholders, the shares, course, and it includes the categories of targets and also obtaining the objectives. That is included in the yearly fiscal report. We would like to thank you shareholders and also to those asking the questions from the different associations.
We would like to thank you for your questions. We appreciate that you support our company, and also we would like to thank our ADS holders for their interests and their liability and loyalty to our company. To any live questions set by shareholders, they will be taken next as a next step in the general debate. Ladies and gentlemen, I think it is in your interest that I will thank the Management Board and employees for their hard work and ask that the general meeting's gratitude to be conveyed to the employees. Ladies and gentlemen, let me now briefly address the proposed resolutions regarding items seven and eight of today's agenda. Under agenda item seven, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board propose increasing the number of Supervisory Board members from six to eight in the future.
The expansion of the supervisory board is intended to account for the company's ongoing growth, the increased demands on supervisory board activities, and the workload of them, the members associated with the device, diverse tasks, and responsibility. It provides an opportunity to gain additional expertise for the work of the supervisory board while retaining the experience of the current supervisory board members. Agenda item 8. Today, we have the election of 5 supervisory board members. First, the terms of office of Professor Dr. Morawietz and also Professor Dr. Staudigl and myself will end with this conclusion of today's annual general meeting. All 3 of us will stand for resolution today under agenda item 8. Furthermore, as a result of the proposed expansion of the supervisory board under agenda item 7, 2 new positions of the supervisory board are also to be filled.
We are pleased to have secured Dr. Schaffert and Professor Dr. Loew-Friedrich as candidates for these two newly created seats. The CVs are available on our website. I would now like hand over to Dr. Schaffert and Dr. Loew-Friedrich, who will introduce themselves. They are present here today. Under agenda item eight, you know that, we will not introduce the others you know already. I will hand over to Dr. Schaffert.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I'm very delighted to be able to introduce myself to you in connection with the supervisory board election. My name is Dr. Susanne Schaffert. I hold a PhD in chemistry and am the mother of an elder adult daughter. I look back to 25 years of international experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most of it in oncology.
My career began in the field sales team at Novartis Germany. Subsequently, from 2000 to 2019, I held various leadership roles in international management, including as Head of Novartis Oncology in Germany, Global Head of Investor Relations, Head of the European Oncology business, and CEO of A- Triple A, a biotech subsidiary within Novartis. In 2019, I joined the Novartis Executive Board as Executive Vice President of Oncology. In this role, I led the Global Oncology business unit with approximately 10,000 employees and an annual sales of $15 billion. In addition to the commercialization and portfolio development of a very broad portfolio in oncology and hematology, I was also instrumental in several acquisitions and licensing deals. Since 2022, I have focused entirely on my roles on supervisory boards.
Currently, I'm a member of the supervisory board of Merck KGaA and the Board of Partners of the E. Merck Group. I also serve on the supervisory boards of Novo Holdings in Denmark, Vetter Pharma in Germany, and ARTBIO in the U.S. What has driven me over the years is the vision of sustainably improving the lives of cancer patients through innovative therapies. I'm convinced that BioNTech can play an outstanding role in this regard, and I would like to use my experience, my network, and my enthusiasm to help make BioNTech a company that can succeed in the highly competitive oncology industry. I sincerely thank you for your trust and look forward to helping you shape the future of this great company. Thank you very much.
Dear Susanne, many thanks. Now I would like to ask Professor Dr. Iris Loew-Friedrich to introduce herself.
Thank you very much. Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Iris Loew-Friedrich. During the pandemic, I have greatly admired BioNTech's extraordinary achievements and have since followed the company's scientific developments with curiosity and excitement, because I was really impressed by the scientific progress. It is a great honor and pleasure to have the opportunity to help shape the future of such a remarkable champion. I am physician. This identity has shaped my professional career. After completing my specialist medical training and postdoctoral qualification at Goethe University in Frankfurt, I transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry. Since 1992, I have dedicated my professional passion to developing innovative medications for the treatment of severe chronic diseases of the immune and nervous systems to help patients. I want to help these patients. This has always been my mantra professionally.
I have consistently worked internationally with a focus on the U.S., Europe, Japan, and China. As a member of the executive boards of publicly traded companies continuously from 2001 to 2024, I have gained broad management experience. From 2008 to 2024, for example, I served as Chief Medical Officer at the international pharmaceutical company UCB. The company is headquartered in Brussels. It was really important for me to be at the right time in a well-coordinated way, hand over the baton to my successors. For me, this point was in 2024, after a series of new products secured UCB's long-term growth. Since then, I have been involved in boards at public and private companies, at foundations, and in mentoring young colleagues. I have served on supervisory boards since 2008 and have the relevant experience over many years.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am absolutely convinced that I bring the values and expertise that can be helpful for BioNTech's next chapter, and I am confident that my strength and skills will complement the supervisory board. I ask you kindly for your support on, for my candidacy, and I would be honored by your trust. You can count on my passionate commitment and my full dedication with all of my energy and everything that I have. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much to you, Iris. Ladies and gentlemen, in the meantime, I have now present, and can announce the current attendance as follows. Of the company's registered share capital in amount of EUR 259,027,487 divided into 259,027,487 no-par shares, 136,377,430 no-par shares carrying the same number of votes are represented at the annual general meeting by the proxies appointed by the company. This corresponds to 52.65% of the registered share capital. In addition, absentee ballots for 101,931,848 shares corresponding to 39.35% of the registered share capital have been received. In total, this corresponds to 238,309,278 shares with an equal number of votes or 92% of the registered share capital.
Six shareholders or their proxies are participating in the annual general meeting electronically via the investor portal. The list of participants is available for review by all shareholders and shareholder representatives on the investor portal under the risk corresponding heading List of Participants. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now proceed to the general debate as previously announced. I would like to ask you once again, if you would like to speak or ask a question, please submit your request via clicking the appropriate button on the investor portal. As previously explained, those who request to speak will be guided through the technical process and placed in a virtual waiting room. From there, I will call on you when it is your turn, and you will then be connected live to the annual general meeting via video conference.
We here in the hall, the participants via the investor portal, and our viewers via the Internet will then be able to see and hear you. Please state your name and, if applicable, the organization that you represent at the beginning of your remarks. Questions regarding the agenda items will be collected for subsequent response unless a separate response is deemed appropriate. Once all requests to speak have been addressed, or after a substantial round of questions, the Management Board will answer the questions directed at it, while I, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, will, with the Management Board's consent, answer questions that fall within the Supervisory Board's purview. Once all questions have been answered and there are no further requests to speak, the general debate will be closed. Thereafter, without further discussion of the agenda items, we will proceed to vote.
I will now call the remaining agenda items 2 through 11 and open the discussion on all agenda items. I would like to ask those shareholders and shareholder representatives who have requested to speak to stand by so that they may speak via the investor portal once their names are called and the video connection is established. No speakers have requested the floor so far. If you wish to speak, I ask you once again to register via the investor portal as explained. I still have no requests to speak. If any shareholders or shareholder representatives would like to take the floor to ask questions or to make remarks, please indicate this immediately via the investor portal. Otherwise, I will close the general discussion. It will then no longer be possible to exercise the right to speak or the right to information.
I note that no comments have been received via our investor portal and that there were no comments or questions even after I asked for them. I ask the notary to note this in the minutes. I hereby close the debate. At the same time, I note that the annual general meeting has taken note of the proposals and reports. Agenda item number 1 is thus concluded. We will now get to the voting on the management items on our virtual meeting right now. The absentee ballot can only be cast through the investor portal or through the proxies by the proxies appointed by the representatives. The voting will take place in the addition method. This means the yes votes will accumulated and counted as well as the no votes.
As far as you would like to request a vote, yes or no, to any two of the items on the agenda, or if you want to share this authority with approximately, you should click on the according link on the agenda and use it as it is integrated in the investor portal. If you would like to absent from any point on the agenda, you don't have to do anything or can alternatively use any of the buttons on the website. If you would like to vote yes or no on one or more agenda items or subitems up for a vote or issue corresponding instructions for the proxies, you must use the appropriate buttons provided in the investor portal.
All the votes will be freed through the investor portal until the end of the closing the voting procedure is possible. For the agenda item 2 to 6 and the subitems 8.1 to 8.5 of agenda item number 8, as well as the agenda item number 11, the simple majority is necessary. Agenda item number 11: A majority of comprising at least three-quarters of the share capital represented at this time of the resolution is additionally required. For agenda item 7 and 9, if at least of the share, half of the share capital is represented, a simple majority of the votes cast and of the represented capital is required. Otherwise, a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes cast and of the represented share capital is required.
For agenda item 10, if at least half of the share capital is represented, a simple majority of the votes cast and a majority comprising at least three-quarters of the share capital represented at the time of the resolution are required. Otherwise, a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes cast and three-quarters of the share capital represented at the time of the resolution is required. According to our articles of association, each no-par value share entitles the holder to 1 vote. The number of your votes is recorded via the investor portal. The members of the management board serving in the 2025 fiscal year may not cast or have cast a vote either on their own behalf or on behalf of others or through others when the resolution regarding their own discharge is voted under today's agenda item number 3.
The same applies to the members of the supervisory board serving in the 2025 fiscal year when voting on their own discharge under today's agenda item 4. It is ensured that no votes may be cast for the shares in question during the respective votes. I will now call for a vote on agenda items 2 through 11. Agenda items 2 through 11, along with the respective resolutions proposed by management, are put to a vote as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026. After all proposed resolutions have been called, you will have a few minutes to exercise your voting rights on the investor portal via electronic absentee voting or by granting a proxy and issuing instructions to the proxies designated by the company or to amend or revoke votes already cast or proxies already granted with instructions to the proxies.
We will now proceed to agenda item 2: Resolution on the appropriation of the balance sheet profit for the 2025 financial year. The management board and the supervisory propose that BioNTech SE's balance sheet profit from the past financial year in the amount of EUR 6,901,677,892.10 be carried forward in full to new account. We now move on to agenda item 3: Resolution on the approval of actions of the management board. The management board and supervisory board propose that the actions of the members of the management board in office in the 2025 financial year be approved for this period. This brings us to agenda item number 4: Resolution on the approval of actions of the supervisory board.
The management board and the supervisory board propose that the actions of the members of the supervisory board in office in the 2025 financial year be approved for this period. We will now proceed to agenda item 5: Resolution on the appointment of the auditor and the group auditor for the 2026 financial year and the auditor for any audit or review of interim reports. The exact wording of the supervisory board's proposed resolution regarding this agenda item 5 was published in the Federal Gazette on April 2nd, 2026. I assume that the wording is known. I will not read it aloud and put the supervisory board's proposed resolution regarding agenda item 5, as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2nd, 2026, to vote. We now turn to agenda item 6: Resolution on the approval of the compensation report.
The management board and the supervisory board propose that the compensation report for the 2025 fiscal year prepared and audited in accordance with Section 162 of the German Stock Corporation Act be approved. We now turn to agenda item 7: Resolution on the amendment of Section 9, Paragraph 1 of the Articles of Association to increase the size of the supervisory board. The exact wording of the resolution proposed by the management board and the supervisory board regarding this agenda item 7 was published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026. I therefore assume that the wording is known and waive reading and put the resolution proposed by the management board and the supervisory board regarding agenda item number 7, as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026 to vote.
We will now proceed to agenda item 8: Resolution on elections to the supervisory board. The exact wording of the supervisory board's nominations regarding this agenda item 8 was published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026. I therefore assume that the wording is known, waive a reading, and put the supervisory board's regarding the agenda item number 8, as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026 to vote. The elections will be handled individually, which means regarding this agenda items, you may cast an individual vote for each of the candidates standing for elections. Under sub items 8.1 to 8.5, all five candidates standing for election have already declared in advance that they will accept the position if elected.
We will now turn to agenda item number 9, resolution on the amendment of Section 16, paragraph 5 of the Articles of Association to reauthorize the Management Board to provide for the holding of a virtual Annual General Meeting. The exact wording of the resolution proposed by the Management Board and the Supervisory Board regarding this agenda item 9 was published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026. I assume that the wording is known. I will not read it aloud. Put the resolution proposed by the Management Board and the Supervisory Board regarding agenda item 9 as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2022 to vote.
We now turn to agenda item number 10, resolution on the cancellation of the existing authorized capital 2025 and the creation of a new authorized capital 2026 with the possibility to exclude subscription rights as well as the corresponding amendment to the articles of association. I assume that the exact wording of the resolution proposal by the management board and supervisory board regarding this agenda item 10 as published in the Federal Gazette is known to you. I therefore refrain from reading it aloud and put the resolution proposal by the management board and supervisory board regarding agenda item 10 as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026 to vote. This brings us finally to agenda item 11, resolution on the approval of the conclusion of a domination and profit and loss transfer agreement between BioNTech SE and BioNTech Discovery GmbH.
I assume that the exact wording of the resolution proposal by the management board and the supervisory board regarding this agenda item 11 is known. I will not read it out, I will therefore refrain from reading it aloud and put the resolution proposal by the management board and the supervisory board regarding agenda item 11 as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026 to vote. Ladies and gentlemen, you have now 5 minutes remaining until 4:23 P.M. to authorize the proxy holders via the investor portal to exercise voting rights in accordance with your instructions or to amend or revoke instructions already given. You also still have the opportunity to cast your absentee votes. Absentee votes can still be cast, changed, or revoked via the investor portal until I close the voting.
However, I would like to point out that the actual voting process essentially consists of the release of the votes represented by the company's proxies, so it is expected to be of very short duration. If you still wish to cast, change, or revoke your absentee votes, you should therefore do so now. If you would like to vote yes or no on one or more of the agenda items or sub items up for a vote, please do so now via the investor portal. I will suspend the meeting for a moment.
Ladies and gentlemen, I will now continue the meeting as announced. The window for authorizing proxy holders to exercise voting rights in accordance with instructions via the investor portal is closed at 4:25 P.M. The powers of attorney and instructions granted to the proxies are now stored in the system. Voting takes place immediately upon the proxy's approval of the instruction summary stored in the system. Upon approval, the respective instruction summary stored in the system is included in the vote count. I now open the vote on the management's proposed resolutions regarding items 2 through 11 of today's agenda, as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2, 2026, which I am putting to a vote without amendment. I ask the proxies to approve the previously recorded votes by a show of hands.
Ladies and gentlemen, the proxies have indicated that all votes stored in the system have been released for the vote. As announced, the option to cast absentee votes via the investor portal is now closed. I hereby close the voting on agenda items 2 through 11. I will announce the results of the vote immediately after they have been tallied. Until the voting results are available to me, we will now take a break, which is expected to last approximately 20 minutes. I would like to ask for your patience. I'm now suspending the AGM until the voting results are available. At 4:27 P.M. [Break]
Ladies and gentlemen, I have the results of the vote. We will therefore continue with the AGM. First, I would like to provide you with an updated attendance report. Of the company's registered share capital in the amount of EUR 259 million, 27,487 divided into 259 million, 27,487 no-par shares. One hundred and thirty-six million, three hundred and seventy-seven thousand, four hundred and thirty no-par shares carrying the same number of votes are represented in the AGM by the proxies appointed by the company. This part corresponds to 52.65% of the registered capital. In addition, absentee ballots for 101 million, 931,848 shares corresponding to 39.35% of the registered share capital have been received.
In total, this corresponds to 238,309,278 shares with an equal number of votes or 92% of the registered share capital. 5 shareholders or their proxies are participating in the AGM electronically via the investor portal. The updated attendee list is available for your review on the investor portal under the list of attendees section. I will now formally announce and confirm the voting results for agenda items 2 through 11. In doing so, I am exercising the option to limit the confirmation of the resolution for each resolution to the fact that the required majority was achieved. I will announce the percentage of approval in this regard. The detailed results of the votes on agenda items 2 through 11 will be displayed simultaneously.
They have also been handed over to the notary for inclusion in the minutes of the meeting. We will also publish the detailed voting results on the company's website following today's AGM. I declare for each resolution as follows. For approval, there were resolution proposals as published in the Federal Gazette of April 2nd, 2026. The AGM has approved the proposal of the management board and supervisory board on agenda item 2 regarding the appropriation of retained earnings for the 2025 fiscal year by a vote of 90.97%, thereby securing the required majority. On agenda item number 3 on a resolution on the discharge of the supervisory board, actions were approved by 99.68% and thus securing the required majority.
On agenda item 9 for the discharge of the Supervisory Board approvals were approved by 90.68% and required the majority. The AGM has approved the proposal of the Management Board and Supervisory Board on the resolution of the discharge of the Supervisory Board's action with 90.68% and the required majority. The AGM has approved of the proposal of the Management Board and Supervisory Board on agenda item 9 on the review of interim reports by 99.68% and thus achieved the required majority. On agenda item number 6, when it comes to the approval of the compensation report, it was approved by 96.6% and the required majority.
The AGM has approved the proposal by the board and the Supervisory Board on agenda item seven on the change of on the modification of article number nine, paragraph one of the articles of association, by enlarging the Supervisory Board with 99.98% and thus received the required majority. The AGM has approved the proposal of the Supervisory Board of 8.1 resolution on the election to the Supervisory Board in the case of Helmut Jeggle and thus, the Professor Anja Morawietz with 99.88% of the vote. I will read out loud again. The general meeting has approved the Supervisory Board's proposal regarding agenda item 8.2, resolution on the election of the Supervisory Board. In this case, Professor Anja Morawietz with 99.88% of the vote, thereby achieving the required majority.
The AGM has approved the Supervisory Board's proposal regarding agenda item 8.3, resolution on the election to the Supervisory Board. In this case, Professor Dr. Rudolf Staudigl with 99.85% of the vote, thereby securing the required majority. The AGM approved the Supervisory Board's proposal regarding agenda item 8.4, resolution on the election to the Supervisory Board. In this case, Dr. Susanne Schaffert with 99.98% of the vote, thereby securing the required majority. The AGM approved the Supervisory Board's proposal regarding agenda item 8.5, resolution on the election to the Supervisory Board. In this case, Professor Dr. Iris Loew-Friedrich with 90.74% of the vote, thereby achieving the required majority.
The AGM approved the Supervisory Board's proposal regarding agenda item 9, resolution on the amendment of the section 16 paragraph of 5 of the articles of association to reauthorize the Management Board to hold a virtual general meeting with 91.45% of the vote, thereby achieving the required majority. The AGM approved the Supervisory Board's proposal under the agenda item 10, resolution on the cancellation of the existing authorized capital 2025 and the creation of a new authorized capital with the option to exclude subscription rights as well as the corresponding amendment to the articles of association with 99.24% of the votes, thus achieving the required majority.
The AGM approved the proposal of the Supervisory Board regarding agenda item 11 A, resolution on the approval of the conclusion of a control and profit transfer agreement between BioNTech SE and BioNTech Discovery GmbH with 99.81% of the votes, thus achieving the required majority. In conclusion, I hereby reaffirm and announce the management's proposed resolutions on agenda items 2 through 11, as published in the Federal Gazette on April 2nd, 2026, have been adopted by the required majority in each case. Ladies and gentlemen, I have recorded and announced the voting results. This brings us to the end of today's agenda, and we will now proceed to the conclusion of this year's AGM. There's still an opportunity to file an objection to one or more of today's resolutions via the investor portal until I close the meeting.
This will take place shortly after that. An objection will no longer be possible. The same applies to the option of using the complaint function on the investor portal to request that the question asked and the reason for the refusal of information be included in the notarial record in the event that information is withheld. Ladies and gentlemen, before I close the AGM, I would like to thank you very much for your contributions and for demonstrating your interest in and commitment to our company through your participation in this virtual AGM. My sincere thanks also go to the members of the management board and the supervisory board as well as to all employees who actively contributed to the preparation. Natalie, Yasmina, Julia, and all those who participated in conducting and preparing this AGM. Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby close the annual general meeting and end the broadcast.