The German company BioNTech and its US partner, Pfizer, have made waves in the news recently. The reason: they rank among the first to produce a viable coronavirus vaccine, indicating a 90% effectiveness in trials.
Behind this vaccine quietly stand Ugur Sahin and Oezlem Tuereci, a German couple of Turkish origin. In the past, the two used their position to break ground in a number of cancer-related research projects.
“I think the good message for mankind is that we now understand that COVID-19 infections can be indeed prevented by a vaccine,” Sahin tells CNN. BioNTech also predicted that the world may return to normal by next winter.
Ugur Sahin and Oezlem Tuereci stand behind immune system therapy breakthroughs
Sahin and Tuereci have been working together on research with a focus in cancer and the immune system. In 2008, the married couple founded BioNTech to harness their shared passions. The company has grown steadily doing well since its inception, with Sahin raising $150 million to support their next goal: to harness the immune system to target cancer.
“We want to activate the patient’s immune cells to identify, to detect, and eliminate tumor cells,” he explains. In this way, BioNTech’s messenger RNA technology uses the body’s cells as “drug factories.”
Some of the other technologies that BioNTech has been using mRNA for include protein replacement therapy, cancer immunotherapy, and engineered cell therapy. In addition to that and vaccines, in September of 2019 the company signed an agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They will develop HIV and tuberculosis identification and prevention strategies, as well an experimental treatment for remission of HIV.
A married couple with parallel backgrounds
Sahin and Tuereci share somewhat parallel backgrounds as Turkish-Germans. Sahin’s father was a Turkish immigrant working at a Ford factory in Cologne. Meanwhile, Tuereci’s parents also immigrated from Turkey to Germany, where she grew up. Later, Tuereci became an immunologest. Now, she stands next to Sahin – the CEO – as BioNTech’s chief medical officer.
Sahin met Tuereci while working at hospitals in Cologne and Homburg. In addition to her role in BioNTech, Tuereci is the president of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy and chair of the Cluster for Individualized Immune Intervention. Additionally, she lectures at the University of Mainz.
Now, Sahin ranks among the 100 richest Germans according to Reuters. But “despite his achievements, he has never changed from being incredibly humble and personable,” says Matthias Kromayer, a board member of MIG AG, which has backed BioNTech since 2008.
The vaccine uses BioNTech’s innovative immune technologies
BioNTech and its US partner, Pfizer, has had their sights on an influenza vaccine since 2018. On November 9th of this year, Pfizer announced that their study in collaboration with BioNTech has shown a 90% infection prevention rate for the Covid vaccine virus.
“It shows that Covid-19 can be controlled,” Sahin notes. “At the end of the day, it’s really a victory of science.” The technology used in the vaccine that harnesses the mRNA has never been approved in the US or Europe as of yet.
Still in development, the vaccine could have negative effects on the elderly. As such, US regulations require an additional two months of testing at least. However, the results offer much needed – and for once, well-placed – hope.
CNN reports that BioNTech and Pfizer’s goal is to manufacture 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021. Read more about it here.
