BioNTech commits to 1.8 bln doses of vaccine

BioNTech said Monday (May 10) that it and U.S. partner Pfizer have committed to delivering 1.8 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine this year.

That's up from an earlier target of 1.4 billion announced in March.

And the numbers will go even higher in 2022.

The duo say they will have capacity for more than 3 billion doses that year.

They have been spared the production troubles that have dogged rival shots, such as those made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Monday's numbers come as BioNTech announced first quarter results.

It saw revenues soar to just over 2 billion euros - or about 2.5 billion dollars.

That's up from just 27.7 million euros a year earlier.

Overall it expects vaccine sales revenue to hit more than 15 billion dollars this year.

Profits too have zoomed higher.

On Monday BioNTech also said it would build a new vaccine production line in Singapore.

The facility will be able to produce several hundred million doses per year, once it comes on line in 2023.

Now the firm says it sees no evidence its current shot will need adapting to fight new variants.

However, it says it has strategies in place to do that should such a situation arise.