THE coronavirus pandemic started a race to produce a vaccine that can save thousands of lives and return normality to millions.
And as the UK begins its rollout of the vaccine designed by Pfizer and BioNTech, it is all down to a “dream team” couple that an end to covid is in sight.
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BioNTech CEO Dr Ugur Sahin and his wife Özlem Türeci have been hailed as the inventors behind the covid vaccine – which is now set to given to people all over the world.
Dr Sahin, 55, and 53-year-old Dr Türeci have dedicated their lives to medical research, with Dr Türeci once telling an interviewer they even made time for lab work on their wedding day.
The pair, whose parents both migrated to Germany, co-founded BioNTech, a German biotechnology company, in 2008.
Together they honed in on the immune system as a potential ally in the fight against cancer and tried to address the unique genetic makeup of each tumour.
In creating BioNTech, they also aimed to pursue a much broader range of cancer immunotherapy tools.
Together with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the couple helped co-develop a jab known as a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.
Conventional vaccines are produced using weakened forms of the virus, but mRNAs use only the virus’s genetic code.
An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens.
These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
Encouraging interim findings from Pfizer and BioNTech’s mass clinical trial earlier this week raised hopes that the pandemic may soon come to an end.
It was confirmed on November 9 that in one of the first mass tests of a coronavirus vaccine, up to 90 per cent of people were protected from the virus.
The UK Government has since bought 40million doses at an estimated cost of £588.4million— with ten million hoping to become available before Christmas.
The UK are set to begin the rollout of the vaccine on Tuesday, December 8 with elderly people and NHS staff among the first to receive the vaccine.
The jab is required to be taken in two doses, injected into the arm three apart.
The news is a huge boost to hopes for a safe vaccine to be rolled out across the UK and around the world.
It is unclear exactly how much the couple are worth but they sold Ganymed Pharmaceuticals – a firm they previously set up before BioNTech – for £1.06billion in 2016.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has reportedly invested £41.8million in their current company BioNTech.
The couple are now among the 100 richest Germans, according to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
Despite their hefty price tag, colleagues say Mr Sahin is a calm and measured man who is more interested in reading scientific journals than checking the company’s share price.
Matthias Kromayer, a board member of venture capital firm MIG AG, whose funds have backed BioNTech, said: “Despite his achievements, he never changed from being incredibly humble and personable.”
He added Mr Sahin would typically walk into business meetings wearing jeans and carrying his signature bicycle helmet and backpack with him.
And Matthias Theobald, a fellow oncology professor at Mainz university who has worked with Mr Sahin for 20 years, said: “He is a very modest person. Appearances mean little to him.”
