The leading scientist who helped created the coronavirus vaccine is now using the similar technology to fight cancer.
Founders of the German biomedical company BioNTech, Ozlem Tureci and her husband Ugur Sahin, were working on a way to use the body’s immune system to fight tumors when the virus broke out in China last year, reported the Associated Press.
The couple, who had been assisting in cancer-fighting researching technology for two decades, decided to switch their focus toward coronavirus, calling their efforts "Project Lightspeed."
11 months later, Britain authorized the use of the mRNA vaccine BioNTech developed with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and the United States followed shortly after.
“It pays off to make bold decisions and to trust that if you have an extraordinary team, you will be able to solve any problem and obstacle which comes your way in real time,” Tureci told the AP in an interview.
Related
Tureci, who's company currently employs staff members from 60 countries, says the same basic principles applied to create the COVID vaccine can be used to get the immune system to take on cancerous tumors.
“We have several different cancer vaccines based on mRNA,” said Tureci, who is BioNTech’s chief medical officer.
When asked when the cancer vaccine might be available, the biomedical engineer stated that it’s “very difficult to predict in innovative development. But we expect that within only a couple of years, we will also have our vaccines (against) cancer at a place where we can offer them to people.”
Until then, Tureci and Sahin are working to make sure orders of the COVID vaccine are delivered to governments worldwide, and that it responds to any new variants of the virus.
Related
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram