Cancer vaccine can be developed by 2030, assures founders of COVID vaccine-makers BioNTech

A wife and husband team, Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin, founders of BioNTech German vaccine firm that worked on medical advancement by creating a COVID-19 'Pfizer' vaccine jab, are all set to make cancer vaccine. The said vaccine aims to destroy all cancer cells altogether. Though as of now they are working melanoma, bowel cancer along with other types of cancer, the aim is to develop total care. 

During COVID, the firm put their cancer cure plan on hold

Tureci and Sahin together worked during the creation of the COVID-19 vaccine and created mRNA (short for messenger RNA) Covid vaccine. More than 3.7 billion Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines have been shipped to more than 180 countries as of September 4, 2022. Before the Covid outbreak, the firm was already working on the cancer vaccine. After the pandemic hit, they put this on hold and focussed on creating a Covid vaccine. As they created Covid vaccine, they learnt how vaccines work using messenger RNA and this knowledge, according to the couple, is the main reason they are able to find the cancer cure.

Cancer vaccine clinical trials in progress

According to Cosmopolitan reports, the firm is providing personalised cancer vaccines to patients. This prompts the patient's immune system to attack the disease. BioNTech’s chief medical officer, Prof Türeci, told the BBC’s ‘Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg’: "What we have developed over decades for cancer vaccine development has been the tailwind for developing the Covid-19 vaccine, and now the Covid-19 vaccine and our experience in developing it gives back to our cancer work.” 

“We have learned how to better, faster manufacture vaccines. We have learned in a large number of people how the immune system reacts towards mRNA.” Tureci added.

Using the mRNA technology adopted in the Covid vaccine in the cancer vaccine this can be a pioneer in tracking down cancer, Tureci said.