A historic landmark was achieved by two noted Scientists, Dr Ugur Sahin and Dr Ozlem Tureci after they developed the COVID – 19 vaccine. They havespent years pioneering personalized immunotherapy treatments for cancer and have been working in the field of oncology and infectious diseases
But amid the coronavirus pandemic, the couple’s made a breakthrough research in the field of modified genetic code that has made them a hero in the public eye. It was their brain behind the world’s first effective coronavirus vaccine.
Dr Sahin, age 55, and Dr Tureci, age 53, set up BioNTech lab in the central German city of Mainz in 2008. On Monday the company’s partner, US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer,said their candidate vaccine was effective in preventing infection in volunteers inmore than 90% cases.
It uses the technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to spark an immune response in people who are vaccinated.This is a never-before approved technology.
Sahin while speaking to reporters on Tuesday on the phone explained the importance of the news and sent a message of hope to the world.
Dr Sahin said that the good message that is conveyed to mankind is that Covid – 19 infections can be prevented by a vaccine.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Pfizer CEO’s Albert Bourla called it “the greatest medical achievement” in the last 100 years.
Dr.Tureci and Dr.Sahin are highly experienced in the medical scienceworld.
Both of them are trained physicians,andare responsible for establishing their previous company, Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, in 2001. They worked here on developing cancer fighting antibodies, whichwere eventually selling it for $1.4 billion in 2016.
Chief Executive Sahin and Chief Medical Officer Tureci are among the Germany’s 100 richest people,as proclaimed by the weekly Welt am Sonntag newspaper. On Tuesday, the market value of their company jumped to $25.72 billion -a massive leap from $4.6 billion last year on the Nasdaq scale.
However the couple’s charitable principles and their longstanding commitment to academia and science appear to have kept them to the ground. This is even as their work on the Covid-19 vaccine makes them into the global spotlight.
In May, the couple told reporters that they felt that they have to “provide something for society,” based on the work they had done in their field over the last two decades.
