In the midst of an energy and financial crisis in Germany, the capital of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and headquarters of the biotechnology company BioNTech is counting “golden eggs”
As in the rest of Germany, emergency energy-saving measures are being taken in Mainz as the Scholz government frantically prepares for a multi-difficult winter.
But in the city previously best known as the birthplace of Gutenberg and its annual carnival, the unlikely… “side effects” of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine’s success against COVID-19 have residents and authorities looking to the future with cautious optimism.
Cause; The biotechnology company BioNTech is headquartered in Mainz, the capital of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was founded there as a start-up in 2008 by two scientists of Turkish origin, with a tenure at the local university, who were to become a couple in life and who eventually developed one of the key vaccines against COVID-19. Today, Ugur Şahin and Özlem Turecı are simultaneously researching mRNA vaccine therapies for cancer. Now they are compared by many to the couple Pierre and Marie Curie.
Huge amounts of income
Before the coronavirus, Mainz, with a population of 200,000, was one of Germany’s most heavily indebted cities, with annual deficits exceeding one billion euros. However, after BioNTech’s insane revenues due to the coronavirus vaccine, the city’s coffers filled at lightning speed.
Last year alone, revenue from business taxes exceeded €1 billion. And although their origin is officially secret, it is certain that they come almost entirely from the mythical profits of the biotech giant.
This year, the corresponding tax revenues are hopefully expected to reach 500 million euros. Perhaps these initial estimates will turn out to be very modest after all, if one considers that the Pfizer/BioNTech consortium is preparing to receive approval for the marketing of the vaccine booster against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the Omicron mutation, within the autumn.
In any case, the Mainz authorities open amid nationwide gloom… champagnes. On the one hand, because they will repay every last cent of the municipality’s debts this year – something the local press calls “the miracle of Mainz”. On the other hand, because now they can draw up plans for the sustainable development of the local economy, investing in the dynamics that have developed in the city in the fields of research and health.
Big Investment Plans
Obviously, everyone is vying for a share of the profit pie. The list of requests keeps growing. Free public transport. Reinforcement of social welfare. Lower tax on dog ownership – the highest in Germany. A new John Gutenberg museum…
The Giving Back program has already been implemented, which includes, among other things, the purchase of electric buses, a transport ticket for students at 365 euros per year, renovation and extension of the tram, renovation of swimming pools (25 million euros) and public toilets (200,000 euros), modernization of gyms (350,000 euros).
In a city where already 15% of the population are students, the local authorities recently allocated 300 hectares of land for the construction of a new biotechnology campus. The aim is to create 5,000 new jobs for specialists from all over the world.
BioNTech and the future
BioNTech alone, which already has ten buildings spread across the city, wants to hire 2,000 researchers. The company has set up its own research center on the site of an old Bundeswehr (German army) barracks, which is next to its headquarters.
In the meantime, academics, start-ups and investors have begun to flock to Mainz, taking positions in the city that wants to become the… Silicon Valley of biotechnology.
An extra incentive is clearly the decision of the Mainz authorities to reduce business tax rates. Many commented that the move was almost a “photoshoot” for BioNTech to keep it from relocating. Now, however, it has attracted other companies, mainly from the biomedical sector. A fact that has caused complaints from neighboring cities.
On the opposite bank of the Rhine, for example, in the hitherto much wealthier Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hesse, criticism of unfair competition is mounting.
