BMO Cuts BioNTech Rating as Cancer Pipeline Faces a Test

BMO Capital Markets cut BioNTech to market perform from outperform on September 8 and lowered its 12-month price target to $105 from $128. The move followed a clinical setback and a reduced revenue outlook.

The setback was BioNTech’s decision to end a Phase 2 trial of its personalized mRNA cancer therapy in colorectal cancer. The company said the independent monitoring board recommended stopping the study; it was designed to test the treatment without a checkpoint inhibitor.

BioNTech also trimmed its 2026 revenue forecast to €1.6 billion to €1.9 billion, from €2 billion to €2.3 billion, according to the downgrade report. That puts pressure on near-term expectations as the company works to shift from COVID-19 vaccines toward cancer medicines.

But the colorectal study is one program, not the whole pipeline. BioNTech reported more than 25 Phase 2 and Phase 3 cancer studies, spanning lung, breast and gastrointestinal tumors. Its second-quarter filing lists late-stage trials of pumitamig, an experimental medicine being tested in several cancer types.

A recent lung cancer result provides a more immediate reason for investors to keep watching. In a Phase 3 trial’s non-pivotal first stage, gotistobart showed median overall survival of 18.5 months, versus 10 months with docetaxel, in previously treated squamous lung cancer patients. The pivotal stage is still underway, so the result is not yet a final confirmation.

BioNTech had €16.6 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments at June 30. That reserve gives it resources to fund research, but it does not remove the risk that clinical trials fail or take years to produce sales.

The key test is whether results from larger, pivotal studies can support the early signals. Investors will also be watching whether BioNTech can steady its vaccine business while advancing its oncology programs.