Baden-Württemberg Establishes Taskforce on Biontech Sites – Clarity by End of September

Members of the taskforce are, according to the state government, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Science, the Federal Employment Agency, as well as the state-owned bio-cluster agency BIOPRO. The trade union Industriegewerkschaft Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IG BCE) is also involved as a social partner. The goal is to bundle the flow of information and to provide offers for further training, transfer companies, or job placement should positions be cut.

Who Sits on the Taskforce?

With regard to the Marburg site, the facts point exclusively to the fact that Biontech has not named any concrete interested parties for its sites. A Biontech spokesperson said verbatim: „Konkrete Interessenten nannte Biontech nicht." It therefore remains unclear whether a sale, a conversion of use, or a gradual reduction of activities at the Marburg site is imminent.

The city of Tübingen has been one of Biontech's most important sites since the company was founded and, in the current reporting period, is also part of the site discussion. Based on the available facts, nothing concrete is known about possible investors or a timeline for the Tübingen site. Here too, the taskforce remains the central point of contact according to the state government.

The Asian market, in particular Singapore, plays a role in the company's overarching site strategy. However, the factual situation contains no indications of whether and to what extent production capacities are to be relocated from Baden-Württemberg to Singapore. A direct linkage between the Baden-Württemberg sites and the Singapore site cannot be derived from the available information.

Open Questions on Investors and Timeline

For the Idar-Oberstein site in Rhineland-Palatinate, it holds that it is part of the ongoing site review. How many employees there could be concretely affected does not emerge from the facts. According to the state government, the taskforce works across sites, so that employees in Rhineland-Palatinate are also to be reached via the responsible agencies.

The dimension of the personnel impact is mentioned in the facts only as an order of magnitude. A total of up to 1,860 jobs could be affected by the measures, as a source familiar with the proceedings said verbatim: „Insgesamt bis zu 1.860 Stellen könnten von den Maßnahmen betroffen sein." This figure covers all sites and is an upper limit, not an already defined list of cuts.

Order of Magnitude: Up to 1,860 Jobs

Against the backdrop of this order of magnitude, the economic-policy significance of the proceedings is considerable. Biontech is one of the few German biotech companies with global visibility that grew rapidly during the coronavirus pandemic. The state government also justifies its involvement with an interest in stable employment development in the state's pharmaceutical and life science sector.

By the end of September, the state government wants to present robust information on investors, possible buyers, and on the employment prospects at the sites. Until then, the talks remain behind the scenes; according to its own account, the taskforce meets regularly. An official statement from CEO Guido Oelkers on the Baden-Württemberg sites is not available based on the available facts.