Bayer, Vidac Pharma, BioNTech – Setbacks and New Standards

Bayer – Now it is getting serious

News published over the weekend is usually negative in nature. This was also the case with the latest bad news from pharmaceutical and agricultural giant Bayer. It concerns the dominant topic of the last few years that has gotten the Leverkusen-based company into serious trouble - lawsuits for damages related to the weed killer glyphosate.

A jury in the US state of Georgia ordered the Bayer Group to pay around USD 2.1 billion to a plaintiff who sued, claiming to have developed cancer as a result of Roundup. The ordered payment is one of the highest amounts imposed so far in the entire litigation. To date, Bayer has paid around USD 10 billion in legal disputes related to glyphosate. However, 60,000 cases are still open and have yet to be heard. In this context, Bayer recently announced that it would obtain a risk buffer of EUR 2.5 billion to settle the legal disputes.

On Saturday, Bayer rejected the recent court ruling as unfounded. The Company emphasized that the decision is not in line with the vast majority of scientific research. "We are confident that we have strong arguments on appeal to overturn this ruling or at least reduce the excessive and unconstitutional damages," the Company said in a statement.

Vidac Pharma – A milestone for breakthrough therapies

In contrast to the Bayer Group, the biopharmaceutical company, led by Max Herzberg, one of the founding fathers of the Israeli life sciences industry, is doing extremely well. The Company's approach is revolutionary. Vidac Pharma is developing anti-cancer drugs by altering the tumor's hyperglycolytic microenvironment and targeting the overexpression and mis-anchoring of the metabolic checkpoint hexokinase 2 in cancer cells to alter the tumor's microenvironment and selectively induce its programmed death without affecting the surrounding normal tissues.

Vidac Pharma's flagship product, VDA-1275, is currently at the forefront of pharmaceutical innovation. This drug candidate for the treatment of solid tumors has caused a sensation in preclinical studies. When used as a standalone treatment, VDA-1275 has already demonstrated significant efficacy.

Particularly outstanding are the synergistic effects that occur when VDA-1275 is combined with existing cancer therapies. This combination therapy could set a new standard in oncology.

Vidac Pharma made a big impression at the Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Meeting in Jerusalem on March 9, 2025, which brought together the elite in tumor research. CEO Herzberg presented the second candidate VDA-1102, which could be formulated in such a way that it could cross the blood-brain barrier in a five-year-old child and thus reach the brain tumor in the child's head, marking a significant milestone that opens up new possibilities for groundbreaking therapies for the treatment of brain diseases.

Vidac Pharma's shares are consolidating after a rally of over 660% to a high of EUR 1.30 and are currently in the bottoming-out phase in the support zone at EUR 0.50. In their study, analysts at Sphene Capital issued a price target of EUR 4.90, which would mean a price potential of around 870% at the current price level.

BioNTech – Positive analysts, negative chart

The results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2024 were met with sell-offs by BioNTech shareholders. Since then, the stock has lost around 13% of its value and again broke the psychological mark of USD 100. Further losses are looming if the price falls below the prominent support area of USD 93. Should this level be breached on a sustained basis, last year's low of USD 76.53 could serve as an intermediate target.

The end of the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated the largest source of revenue for the Mainz-based biotech company. For fiscal year 2024, revenue totaled EUR 2.75 billion, compared to EUR 3.82 billion in the prior-year period. By contrast, research and development costs grew to EUR 2.3 billion, compared to EUR 1.78 billion in 2023. For fiscal year 2024, the net loss amounted to EUR 665.3 million, compared to a net profit of EUR 930.3 million in the same period last year. The loss per share amounted to EUR 2.77 compared to a profit of EUR 3.83 12 months earlier.

The Company's beacon of hope for the future is undoubtedly its oncology pipeline, which management says has made significant progress in the past year. Several global Phase 3 clinical trials have been initiated for the antibody candidate BNT327, and new data from the mRNA cancer immunotherapy program have been presented.

According to Prof. Dr. Ugur Sahin, BioNTech's CEO and co-founder, "2025 will be a year of multiple important data updates from our clinical focus programs. We believe that these candidates, subject to successful development and approval, have the potential to be disruptive and improve on the current standard of care."

Pharma and agricultural giant Bayer has once again suffered a setback in court and faces the threat of a billion-dollar fine. BioNTech is focusing on developing its oncology pipeline. Vidac Pharma has achieved a milestone.