The Strüngmann brothers, founders of BionTech, intend to invest in the new company that departing executives Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci are creating.
Thomas Strüngmann, who co‑founded BionTech in 2007 with his twin brother Andreas, three other partners and the cancer researchers Sahin and Türeci, said: “We have pledged to support Ugur and to invest alongside him”. The pair, who previously served as chairman and chief research officer, announced last week that they would leave the BionTech board by year‑end to focus on research and drug development in a new venture. The announcement briefly pushed the company’s share price down about 20 percent.
Sahin and Türeci plan to keep their roughly 15 percent stake in BionTech. The Strüngmanns, having sold their pharma firm Hexal and since then backed a series of biotech companies, reportedly own around 44 percent of BionTech shares. Thomas Strüngmann clarified that he has no intention to sell, adding that he bought back shares after the price dip.