The Next Phase: How BioNTech and Moderna Are Positioning For Their Post-COVID Eras
A look into BioNTech and Moderna's corporate strategies as they look to buildout strategic pillars in new areas in the backdrop of a slowing COVID-19 business
Introduction
Remember how BioNTech and Moderna came out of nowhere to become total rockstars during COVID? Their mRNA vaccines made them billions almost overnight, launching their respective market caps into the stratosphere. Both companies now sit within the top 30 (by market cap) in the sector. You could say both companies won the Biotech lottery – right place, right time, right application of their platform to meet the moment.
Where are things at now though? We saw both companies register declining COVID-19 vaccine sales, naturally, as the pandemic has wound down and entered an endemic phase. With demand for vaccines slowing down and perhaps entering a steady state, BioNTech and Moderna are under pressure to diversify their business into new growth areas.
This is a natural course of a company’s lifecycle after developing a breakthrough that brought with it massive, but fleeting revenues. I am reminded of my early days at Gilead, where a primary focus for us was trying to figure out where and how the company could reinvest its HCV-cure and HIV dollars to establish a new foundational pillar outside of virology. Ultimately, we landed on Oncology (which has looked solid, recent Trodelvy data aside) and Inflammation/Autoimmune disease (which was a clear strikeout). Vertex was undergoing a similar a transition, attempting to diversify its business beyond its dominance in Cystic Fibrosis. They clearly put their chips towards cellular and genetic medicines, embodied by their advancements in T1D, pain, and hemoglobinopathies.
So, for BioNTech and Moderna, it’s clear that both companies see the need to, and are, steering their ships towards new waters as part of a broader strategic reset. What's their next act after mRNA vaccines shook up the world? How do they build a real, long-term diversified businesses that builds on the financial foundation that the COVID-19 vaccines have provided?
BioNTech and Moderna are starting to map out very different ideas on their futures. Both want to keep innovating in new areas, but for two companies who have buttered their bread on the same technology (mRNA vaccines for COVID-19) it is very interesting that their approaches don't totally align.
Let's get into the details on the divergent path of these two companies, as they look to write their respective next chapters.
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