Biontech schließt drei Standorte in Deutschland – fast 2000 Mitarbeiter verlieren ihren Job

 

Stand:

30.09.2026, 16:59 Uhr

Von: Robin Dittrich

Biontech schließt drei deutsche Werke – 1.800 Jobs fallen weg. Tübingens Oberbürgermeister Boris Palmer ist empört: Ein Versprechen wurde gebrochen.

Tübingen – Monatelang hoffte Tübingen auf einen Käufer. Jetzt ist klar: Biontech schließt den ehemaligen Curevac-Standort in der Universitätsstadt – und mit ihm zwei weitere Werke in Deutschland. Rund 1.800 Beschäftigte verlieren ihre Stellen, mehr als 700 davon allein in Tübingen. Biontech hatte seit Anfang Mai intensiv nach Käufern für drei seiner Produktionsstandorte gesucht: Tübingen, Idar-Oberstein (Rheinland-Pfalz) und Marburg (Hessen).  

Biontech schließt drei deutsche Werke – 1.800 Jobs fallen weg. Tübingens Oberbürgermeister Boris Palmer ist empört: Ein Versprechen wurde gebrochen. (Symbolbild) © dpa | Marijan Murat

Trotz eines breit angelegten Verkaufsprozesses fand sich kein Investor – das schwierige Markt- und Investitionsumfeld machte alle Hoffnungen zunichte, wie das Unternehmen erklärte. Tübingen soll Ende 2027 schließen, Marburg Anfang 2028 und Idar-Oberstein Ende 2028. Am Montag informierte Biontech seine Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter in einem sogenannten Townhall Meeting über das endgültige Aus. Mit dem Konzernbetriebsrat wurden laut Biontech-Mitteilung ergänzende Abfindungskonditionen vereinbart – Details nannte das Unternehmen zunächst nicht.  

Politiker enttäuscht von Biontech-Schließung – „Das geht nicht“

Tübingens Oberbürgermeister Boris Palmer (parteilos) macht keinen Hehl aus seiner Empörung. Er erinnert daran, dass Biontech Curevac erst Ende 2025 für rund 1,25 Milliarden US-Dollar übernommen und dabei ausdrücklich die Weiterführung des Tübinger Standorts versprochen hatte. Sein Urteil fällt scharf aus: „CureVac erst kaufen wegen der Patente und die Mitarbeiter vor die Tür setzen, das geht nicht.“

Für Tübingen stehe laut des Oberbürgermeisters mehr auf dem Spiel als einzelne Jobs: Es gehe um einen über Jahrzehnte gewachsenen Biotechnologie-Standort. Palmer fordert von Biontech, alle realistischen Möglichkeiten auszuschöpfen. Und er warnt vor einer gefährlichen Lücke in der deutschen Gesundheitsversorgung: „Es ist falsch, dass die Pandemieversorgung komplett eingestellt wird und in Deutschland keinerlei RNA-Produktion mehr übrig bleibt, wenn auch der Standort Tübingen geschlossen wird.“

 

At a fashion week long shaped by the influence of American celebrities, Heart Evangelista has carved out a distinctly global presence, bringing her own blend of art, glamour, and Filipino sensibility to the New York fashion circuit.

Heart Evangelista is New York Fashion Week's breakout celebrity voice

Surpassing Paris Hilton, Jung Hae-In, Lingling Kwong, and Love Pattranite, Heart Evangelista emerges as New York Fashion Week's top celebrity voice, generating $7.6 million in Media Impact Value and further cementing her influence on the global fashion scene. Read more

Transport groups rally in Manila

 

Transport groups rally in Manila over taxes, jeepney phaseout

Rallyists gather near the Mendiola Peace Arch in San Miguel, Manila, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, as the Manila Public Information Office monitors the protest through closed-circuit television (CCTV).

Transport groups and other organizations held a protest in Manila on Wednesday, Sept. 30, calling for the removal of excise taxes on fuel and an end to the government’s jeepney phaseout. The protest was monitored in Recto, Legarda, and Mendiola, where authorities deployed personnel and conducted area monitoring to maintain peace and order and manage traffic. Read more

Uncontrolled internet, AI could be ‘evil gremlins’

 

Uncontrolled internet, AI could be ‘evil gremlins’

By Fr. Shay Cullen, Founder since 1974

Millions of Filipinos open their mobile phones or computers every day, unaware of the power and influence of telecommunications companies (telcos) and internet service providers (ISPs), now enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI), to enable calls, deliver information, and transmit messages and images in an instant. This AI-driven internet is, at present, an unstoppable force in our lives. Its ability to deliver information; give commands and manipulate data; spread fake news; and influence, groom and sexually abuse people online can harm millions of children and adults. It is like a criminal enterprise enabled by telcos and ignored by the government. But the internet is also used for good. It is used to promote justice and peace, human rights and Gospel values; protect human dignity; spread truth; counter evil; and challenge oppression and exploitation in our society with truth, love and kindness. Merriam-Webster defines the internet as an “electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world.” Access to it is made possible through servers owned and managed by telcos that send electronic signals to devices and connect people around the globe almost instantaneously. The now-AI-powered internet signal is said to be the “new God.” It is almost omnipresent and seemingly omnipotent, as it controls human activities, especially financial systems that make the world function. It is a “God” that does not promise or make a new paradise on earth. It is a “God” more powerful than the humans that created it but cannot fully control. With the rapid development of AI, a powerful software program can make another that is more powerful. AI is fast developing into “super intelligence,” causing grave concern around the world as computer experts and creators of AI programs warn that it is getting beyond their control. The introduction of satellite internet makes this “God-like presence” all the more powerful — and all the more dangerous — in our lives. It is almost untouchable while ever present. The highly toxic content on some internet-powered platforms like Reddit and Discord is waking up Philippine law enforcement that seem powerless to stop them from spewing such negative content and allowing child abuse to happen. It has been discovered that these platforms allow hate speech and influence young people to commit extremely violence, like when a 16-year-old Grade 9 student shot dead two people and wounded others at a school in South Cotabato province on Sept. 18. These same platforms also allow child abusers to connect with children and groom them for sexual acts. There are many other platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, which have been criticized for allowing child-abuse images and videos to stream, thus endangering children. Some Philippine government officials claim they even endanger national security. Telegram has almost no content control or moderation, and allows child-abuse images, self-harm and severe exploitation on its platform. Snapchat’s most dangerous defining feature is “disappearing messages and images” used by predators to commit sextortion almost without detection. Unsuccessful so far The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) in the Philippines has tried to police and control the content of these platforms without success, as there is no law empowering them to do so. These platforms, the agency said, have been linked to the radicalization and recruitment of minors involved in recent school shootings in the country. They promote nihilistic violent extremism, it added. The CICC also said the platforms should be “reachable, accountable, and responsive” when the content of their platforms endangers people, especially children, and risk promoting violent acts and self-harm. When they suspended one of the platforms for time, there was an outcry from users who apparently don’t care about the harm it has done to children. They just want internet access. How can we imagine this entity called AI? When used to help humans, this technology is a great friend and teacher. When it goes out of control, it can be used to hurt young people. It transforms from being a friend and teacher to a dangerous creature, not unlike Dr. Jekyll becoming Mr. Hyde. The destructive AI coming into the Philippines through the telcos is what I call an “evil gremlin.” A gremlin is a mythical figure that was said to have infiltrated the engines of British fighter pilots in World War II and was blamed for the frequent mechanical failures of their aircraft rather than the aircraft builders or mechanics for putting them in grave danger. Philippine law enforcement officers are unable to bring the evil gremlins — the AI-driven social media platforms — to account because they are based outside the Philippines. However, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Department of Information and Communications Technology under Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda have that power. They have powers to regulate what comes into the Philippines and block the evil gremlins with legally mandated, installation-ready blocking software. They have power over the IPS and their parent companies, the telcos; and must exercise it in accordance with the law for the sake of the people, especially children, being abused and exploited by the “evil gremlin.” No one knows why they don’t enforce the law to protect children. Allegations of collusion with telcos are unfounded, they say. The United Nations Children’s Fund says more than 2 million children have been sexually exploited over the internet. Republic Act 11930, or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act of 2022, replaces and drastically strengthens RA 9775, or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, which this column proposed and promoted with then-senator Jamby Madrigal. Under the new law, ISP and telco officials, social media intermediaries, and financial entities that fail to block or report these horrific illegal activities and allow AI-driven child abuse to continue on the internet will face severe administrative fines, operational suspensions, or criminal liability for noncompliance. Yet, somehow, they all enjoy impunity and protection by the political influence the telcos wield. We could pray they repent and protect children and not allow them to be abused.

The Social Reckoning trailer casts Jeremy Strong as Zuckerberg

 

Jeremy Strong steps into the role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the new trailer for “The Social Reckoning,” Aaron Sorkin’s companion film to the 2010 drama “The Social Network.”

“The Social Reckoning” will open in Philippine cinemas on October 7.

Sony Pictures lists the film’s wider theatrical release for October 9, placing its Philippine debut two days earlier.

Written and directed by Sorkin, the dramatic thriller draws inspiration from the events surrounding “The Facebook Files” and the whistleblower whose disclosures intensified scrutiny of the social media company.

The story follows Frances Haugen, played by Mikey Madison, as a young Facebook engineer who uncovers some of the social network’s most closely guarded information.

Haugen recruits Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, portrayed by Jeremy Allen White, for a dangerous journey that ultimately exposes the company’s secrets.

The studio describes the film as a David-and-Goliath story about the whistleblower who helped trigger the social media reckoning still unfolding today.

Strong leads the ensemble alongside Madison, White, Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen and Bill Burr.

The film reunites Strong with Sorkin after the actor appeared in the filmmaker’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

Sorkin wrote the screenplay for “The Social Network,” which dramatized Facebook’s creation and the legal disputes surrounding its early years.

The 2010 film received eight Academy Award nominations and won three prizes, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Sorkin, film editing, and original score, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Todd Black, Peter Rice, Aaron Sorkin and Stuart Besser produced “The Social Reckoning,” with each receiving the Producers Guild of America designation.

Lauren Lohman, Roger McNamee, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Broderick Johnson and Andrew A. Kosove served as executive producers.

The new trailer previews the film’s account of the personal and institutional risks behind the disclosures.

“The Social Reckoning” arrives exclusively in Philippine cinemas on October 7.