German pharmaceutical giant BioNTech, which jointly with Pfizer developed the first COVID-19 vaccine to be granted emergency use authorization by U.S. regulators, saw its profits surge in the second quarter of 2021. In an earnings report released on Monday, the Mainz-based company said that it made a net profit of nearly $3.3 billion between April and June. This boosted net profits in the first half of 2021 to over $4.6 billion, compared to a net loss of almost $167 million in the first six months of 2020. The company said the windfall from its mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine will help it to develop drugs against cancer and other diseases. “We and our partner Pfizer have crossed the one billion mark for COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped worldwide,” said Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech, in a statement. “We are proud to have reached this great milestone after only six months and …