Pharma: Biontech is in the midst of a major restructuring – These are the challenges for the new CEO
Guido Oelkers currently runs a Swedish pharmaceutical company and will switch to Biontech as CEO at the beginning of 2027. He has a lot of experience in the industry.
Munich, Düsseldorf. The pharmaceutical company Biontech is appointing Guido Oelkers as its new CEO. The company announced this on Monday. Oelkers is currently at the helm of the Swedish pharmaceutical company Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) and is expected to take over as Biontech's CEO at the beginning of February 2027. The pre-market stock price barely reacted to the news.
In contrast, Sobi's shares lost almost five percent. Oelkers will succeed Uğur Şahin, who founded the company with Özlem Türeci in 2008. Both announced their departure from Biontech at the end of the year in March 2026. They want to set up a new company. Oelkers has been CEO of Sobi, listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm, since 2017. During his tenure, he strengthened the late-stage development pipeline and quadrupled sales between 2017 and 2026.
Oelkers brings 30 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and has held several CEO positions. His focus is on the market launch and marketing of innovative drugs, with a focus on the US market.
Translated by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report; automated translation may contain errors. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
