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Using mRNA technology to produce a COVID-19 vaccine
A hybrid exhibition
Prequel
Stations
Team mRNA
In the 1990s
In the 1990sÖzlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin research mRNA and the possibilities of developing immunotherapies against cancer cells.
From 2008The founding of BioNTech, with high investments in the startup, opens up new possibilities for conducting enormously cost-intensive research and carrying out complex studies.
Scientific optimisation takes time and patience and honest communication and the willingness to invest even over a decade or more.
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The beginning
A viral outbreak
Initial thoughts
At the end of 2019
December 2019In the Chinese city of Wuhan, population 8 million, there is a high incidence of lung diseases, some of which are severe or even fatal, and are apparently transmitted by infection.
January 24, 2020A previously unknown coronavirus is suspected as the cause. Uğur Şahin comes across an article about the outbreak in The Lancet. He immediately grasps the global implications.
I assumed that every person is susceptible to the infection.
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Motto: “At light speed”
Kick-off
The project starts
January 27, 2020
January 27, 2020At the BioNTech headquarters, a series of meetings is scheduled at short notice. Uğur Şahin informs the management and teams about his findings and forecasts. In plain language: It’s a pandemic.
January 27, 2020The message is urgent: Redirect all BioNTech resources to developing, producing, and marketing an effective vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
... that we have to be like light – taking the shortest route in the shortest possible time – to develop this vaccine.
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Against the pandemic, in real time
The “first wave”
Full speed ahead!
Early 2020
Early 2020The virus spreads globally, reaching North America, Latin America, Australia, and Africa ...
Early 2020Europe becomes the epicenter of the pandemic. In the “first wave”, many people become seriously ill, and thousands die.
I said: We‘d better get going …!
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The invention of Comirnaty
A company reorganizes itself
Biotechnology at top speed
Late January 2020
From February 2020A large part of the BioNTech team works in upgraded home offices.
From February 2020In the labs, preclinical studies are in full swing, seeking to identify the first selection of vaccine candidates.
Developing a vaccine against a relatively new pandemic so quickly is unprecedented from a historical perspective.
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A factor of 100,000
From the lab process to mass production
Vaccine for the world
From March 2020
From March 2020Producing mRNA vaccine for the global mass market means upscaling the laboratory-proven process by a factor of 100,000 in the shortest possible time.
March – December 2020A global production network is established within a few months: BioNTech and Pfizer facilities, and 20 sites of other partners, churn out billions of vaccine doses.
From one gram to five hundred – and then tenfold of this …!
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The great campaign
The vaccine is on its way!
The campaigns are underway – the discussions are, too
December 2, 2020
December 2, 2020Great Britain is the first country to approve the COVID-19 vaccine from BioNTech/Pfizer.
December 2020Other countries follow. And shortly before the end of the year, the EU does, too. At BioNTech, the equipment runs 24/7 in order to fulfill all delivery agreements.
… the largest pharmaceutical contract ever in the history of the pharmaceutical industry.
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The mutants are coming…!
The virus is changing
Further development, adaptation, efficiency
Mid-December 2020
Mid-December 2020There are increasing reports of a Variant of Concern of the line B.1.1.7, which has been spreading in the UK since September – the Alpha variant
July, October, November, December 2020 / May, November 2021Epsilon, Beta, Gamma, Eta, Delta, Omicron – the mutated variants of the virus originated in different places on earth.
The virus is getting fitter.
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Vaccine justice – a global debate
In focus: the patents
Strategies for global vaccine production
2021
2021Of the approximately 3 billion vaccine doses produced by BioNTech this year, more than 1 billion go to low- and middle-income countries.
2021 and todayBut there are many and powerful voices calling on pharmaceutical companies to release the patents on drugs against COVID-19.
It is not a simple recipe to make an mRNA ...!
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Key technology mRNA
The research continues
Against the „global common diseases“
Today and in the future
Today and in the futureParallel to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, specialized teams at BioNTech continue to develop mRNA-based immunotherapies for cancer.
Today and in the futuremRNA technology may also be the key to combating other globally prevalent diseases.
It’s likely that RNA technology will transform the entire field of medicine.