The stock rally sparked by Pfizer Inc.’s promising Covid-19 vaccine trial results boosted many investors’ fortunes, but none so dramatically as a pair of German brothers.
Andreas and Thomas Struengmann have collectively added about $8 billion to their wealth this year thanks to their stake in BioNTech SE, the German firm that’s developing the vaccine with Pfizer. BioNTech’s American depositary receipts surged this week after the U.S. drug giant reported the shot they’re working on prevented 90% of symptomatic infections in tens of thousands of volunteers.
At $22 billion, the twins have one of the world’s biggest health-care fortunes, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The brothers, 70, formed their empire by reinvesting the proceeds of their family’s generic drugs businesses.
They “have reshaped their fortune by simply believing in science,” said Paul Westall, co-founder of family office recruitment firm Agreus Group.
The Struengmanns didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Athos Service
The brothers set up their family office, Athos Service, soon after Novartis AG announced in 2005 it was buying their drugmaker, Hexal, along with their stake in affiliate EON Labs for a combined 5.7 billion euros ($6.7 billion).
Thomas Struengmann said in a December interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt that the brothers initially promised themselves they wouldn’t invest more than 1 billion euros in the biotech sector because of the risks and requisite patience. They ended up exceeding that cap after seeing glimpses of promise.
“You want to see your little plants continue to grow,” he said.
Their bet on BioNTech epitomizes their ambition of funding transformational drugs. They helped to give the firm 150 million euros in seed money in 2008 and now own about half of the company. Its stock rally has boosted the fortune of BioNTech Chief Executive Officer Ugur Sahin as well to more than $4 billion, according to the Bloomberg index, putting him on the cusp of joining the world’s 500 richest people.
The Struengmanns also backed Sahin’s previous venture, Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, a cancer-treatment company the Turkish-born scientist founded with his wife Ozlem Tureci. Just under a year after the couple turned their attention to Covid-19, the results of the preliminary trial are a validation of the new type of drug that they’ve spent their careers chasing.