11:44 AM EDT, 03/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- BioNTech (BNTX) reported a decline in fourth-quarter revenue and projected full-year sales to fall again in 2025, while the German drugmaker announced plans to ramp up research and development efforts for future oncology product launches.

Revenue declined to 1.19 billion euros ($1.29 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31 from 1.48 billion euros the year earlier but surpassed the 1.09 billion euro average analyst estimate on FactSet.

The top line primarily reflected lower sales of COVID-19 vaccines as market demand waned, the company said. BioNTech's American depositary receipts fell 3.2% in Monday trade.

For 2025, BioNTech expects revenue to range between 1.7 billion euros and 2.2 billion euros, compared with 2.75 billion euros in 2024, which was also down year to year. Management's outlook underwhelmed the 2.54-billion-euro consensus. Sales are expected to be primarily concentrated in the final three to four months of the year.

The pharma company sees R&D costs ranging from 2.6 billion euros to 2.8 billion euros this year as it prepares for late-stage development and commercial readiness in oncology. Last year's tally was 2.25 billion euros.

"Our strong financial position enables us to fuel our R&D activities and to prepare for multiple product launches in the coming years," Chief Financial Officer Jens Holstein said in a statement.

Fourth-quarter earnings per share fell to 1.08 euros from 1.88 euros in the same period of 2023 and was well above the 0.41-euro Street view. R&D costs picked up, driven by clinical studies for late-stage oncology candidates.

In 2024, the company advanced its oncology pipeline, which includes more than 20 active phase 2 and 3 clinical trials with a focus on two priority pan-tumor programs. Multiple data readouts are expected this year and the next, it said.

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