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Who invented the Pfizer Covid vaccine?
THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic started a race to produce a vaccine that can save thousands of lives and return normality to millions.
A vaccine designed by Pfizer first became available to the public at the end of 2020 and is now offering updated booster shots to eligible people.
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Who invented the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine?
BioNTech CEO Dr Ugur Sahin and his wife Özlem Türeci have been hailed as the inventors behind the Covid vaccine - which has been given to people all around the world.
Dr Sahin, 57, and 55-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 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.
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In creating BioNTech, they also aimed to pursue a much broader range of cancer immunotherapy tools.
How did they help develop the Pfizer vaccine?
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.
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These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
It was confirmed on November 9, 2020, that in one of the first mass tests of a coronavirus vaccine, up to .
The jab was required to be taken in two doses and injected into the arm.
Since then, a booster shot has been administered to many, and even an updated booster has been available to eligible people since September 2022.
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What's Dr Ugur Sahin and Dr Özlem Türeci's net worth?
It is unclear exactly how much the couple is 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 is now among the 100 richest Germans, according to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
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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."
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He added that Mr Sahin would typically walk into business meetings wearing jeans and carrying his signature bicycle helmet and backpack.
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."
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