When reports of a new coronavirus circulated in January, Biontech founders Uğur Şahin and his wife Özlem Türeci responded immediately: They were shifting the focus of their cancer research to the search for a vaccine against the novel virus. The Biontech vaccine BNT162b2 will be the first vaccine worldwide to receive approval in the UK on December 2nd. In an interview, Uğur Şahin talks about the coup of his life and why he has not yet tested his own vaccine himself.
ntv: Mr. Şahin, thank you very much for taking the time to interview us on Sunday, the second Advent. You probably don't have time for a cozy Advent coffee at the moment anyway?
Uğur Şahin: It is indeed very busy. We also have some meetings today on Sunday. But that's all right. It fits the overall task.
You are, so to speak, the father of the first approved vaccine. How does that feel?
We are of course happy and relieved that we now have the opportunity to deliver the vaccine for the first time. But we don't really have time to look forward to it now. We still have a lot to do. Applications are still pending with the European Medicines Agency Ema, in the USA and in other countries. And we have to take care of the logistics. Accordingly, the concentrated work continues for the time being.
When do you expect the European Medicines Agency to give the green light for the vaccine in Germany?
Ema has signaled that it will give an opinion by the end of the year. I assume that we will receive feedback by December 30th at the latest.
How fast can the first vaccination then go?
We are already producing and have vaccines available. Basically, as soon as the Ema approval is available, we could start delivering directly one day later.
How long do you think it will take until there is enough vaccine for the whole of Germany and we can return to a normal life?
It is important that other companies approve their vaccines as well. I assume that by the summer there will be sufficient vaccination doses and a sufficient number of the population, around 60 to 70 percent, will be immunized.
How is production going? There were just headlines about difficulties.
We announced in early November that we would not be able to reach our original goal of 100 million cans for this year. There are several reasons for that. Among other things, that the clinical studies were finished a little later. But also because we had quality problems with the raw materials. These had to be resolved. Production continues as planned and we still plan to produce and deliver the 1.3 billion cans already planned for 2021. This year we will be able to produce 50 million vaccine doses.
Logistics is a big challenge. It's incredibly difficult to transport such large quantities of vaccine at minus 70 degrees Celsius. Will it be easier in the future?
Our current vaccine is transported at minus 70 degrees, then it can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees for five days. This means that logistics are not easy, but they can be implemented. We are now developing a second generation of the vaccine that will be significantly more stable and maybe even be transported at room temperature. However, it will not be available until the middle of next year. That is why we have to expect certain restrictions in logistics until then.
Have you vaccinated yourself with your own vaccine?
Biontech founder Uğur Şahin expects that the vaccinations will ease the pandemic situation by the summer.
No not yet. We don't have approval for Germany yet. But as soon as it is there, I would of course like to do that. However, we also adhere to the guidelines for which groups of people the vaccine is intended for first, and we make no exception for ourselves. If we have an opportunity to vaccinate employees because they are doing systemically important work, then we would of course do it very quickly and very gladly.
What exactly does vaccination protect against? Before a severe course or before the transfer?
Our vaccine has been tested and we found it to be 95 percent effective. Vaccination has a 95 percent chance of preventing disease. However, we do not yet know from the available data whether only the disease is prevented or whether the infection is also prevented. To do this, we will collect more data over the next two to six months.
The Chancellor said last week that poor countries should also have access to corona vaccines. Would you also give your vaccine away to poor countries?
Do not give away directly. But it is important to us that our vaccine is available worldwide. We are working with WHO to make our vaccine available in poorer countries too. We will participate in the Covax initiative, which has the same goal. We are already in the process of negotiating contracts with around 30 countries, which of course are individually adapted to the economic strength of the countries. I am very confident that we can make our vaccine available in many poorer countries and regions by 2021.
Apart from the corona vaccine, where do you see potential at Biontech?
For us, cancer research is still an important focus. In the last few months we have not continued our cancer research projects at top speed, but nevertheless with intensive work. We will certainly strengthen the infection area even further based on the success we have observed for our infectious vaccines. We have started projects on vaccines against influenza, HIV and tuberculosis.
When will you be able to relax again?
I assume that we won't be able to rest again until March or April, when most countries have the appropriate approval and the production processes become more routine. Until then, we have to make sure that we somehow recover from work in between.
Liv von Boetticher spoke to Uğur Şahin
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