BioNTech’s long-term dream: from coronavirus to cancer vaccines?

There would have been no more timing. When the news hit the global headline, the number of coronavirus infections was horribly high, as was the number of deaths from the virus. The new type of vaccine is 90% effective against COVID-19.

“This data is one step closer to a possible solution to the current global epidemic,” said a doctor at BioNTech, a biotechnology company based in Mainz that developed the vaccine in collaboration with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer. UğurŞahin, also and CEO, said. Both companies are currently seeking regulatory approval in the United States.

A breakthrough not only marks the beginning of the end of the corona crisis, but can also radically change the overall approach to vaccine development. People who receive serum developed with this technology are injected with a packaged molecule containing a construction blueprint in the form of messenger RNA or mRNA.

These molecules are absorbed by cells in the body and encourage mRNA to produce specific proteins. However, this protein is “foreign” to the body and is attacked by immune cells to develop immunity.

“Historical results”

Research on this technology has been ongoing for decades for its potential effectiveness in combating all types of diseases, including cancer. And now, in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, BioNTech and Pfizer have clearly proven that it works.

“This is a historic result and the first mRNA vaccine to show early efficacy,” said Nicholas Jackson, an immunologist at the League of Nations Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, an international alliance for advances in vaccine research. Without setbacks, Jackson told DER SPIEGEL that “positive results could mark the beginning of a new era of applying mRNA technology to infectious diseases.”

Norbert Pardi, an assistant professor of research at the University of Pennsylvania, agrees. In a comment to DER SPIEGEL, he said: “It’s great that mRNA vaccines are so effective.” If proven, “more and more mRNA vaccines will be approved for cancer and infectious diseases in the next few years.” He believes.

Researchers turned to mRNA technology in the production of vaccines because traditional methods are so laborious. Such vaccines are made using a weakened virus or a portion of the virus. For example, in the production of influenza vaccines, 500 million eggs are used each year to propagate the influenza virus. In addition, this approach has proven ineffective in combating certain infections such as AIDS and dengue. Making vaccines for cancer patients is far less effective.

Therefore, it seemed even more attractive to program the cells in the body to produce a vaccine by introducing mRNA containing a blueprint of proper structure. Researchers began experimenting with this approach over 30 years ago, injecting foreign mRNA into laboratory animals. After that, I implemented a blueprint and generated foreign substances in muscle cells.

Cancer vaccine?

But after this encouraging start, the field has seen little progress for quite some time. Reason: mRNA is very unstable and often degrades immediately after it is injected into the body or immediately after it disappears completely. The goal was to use molecular tricks to pack the mRNA so that it could reach the inside of the cell without damage. Only in the last decade, according to Paldi, technological innovation and research funding have turned mRNA into a “promising therapeutic tool.”

Both medical expert Özlem Türeci and her husband UğurŞahin participated in the study. The couple wanted to find an improved way to treat their tumors – and early on they dreamed of being able to produce a cancer vaccine.

The basis of that vision: When cancerous tissue begins to grow, it produces abnormal cells that look foreign to the immune system. Türeci and Şahin compared healthy tissue with abnormal tissue in certain cancer patients and were able to find cells that looked foreign. Next, we created mRNA containing blueprints for these foreign structures. They also improved the mRNA so that it actually reached the target cells in the body.

In one study, Türeci and Şahin found that 13 patients with malignant melanoma were given the appropriate mRNA and that each patient’s immune system responded. Eight of them did not experience remission 12-23 months thereafter. Although this treatment does not prevent cancer, it may help treat cancer and prevent metastases.

The secret is that each patient receives an mRNA that exactly matches the genetic profile of the cancer they are suffering from. Although these personalized cancer immunotherapies are still considered , the results of the first study were so promising that Türeci, Şahin and their team published the results in July 2017. I was able to do. Nature, A well-known scientific magazine. Almost two years later, a 52-year-old skin cancer patient in the United States received BioNTech treatment, after which he said: Nature: “I was actually witnessing the cancer cells shrink in front of me.”

Of course, such statements should always be addressed with caution, but dozens of companies and universities are doing technology research these days. Clinical trials of mRNA vaccines for breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, etc. are underway. According to mRNA expert Paldi, the various types of cancers targeted have proven that mRNA vaccines may help fight the disease.

1.3 billion doses

But in January, Türeci and Şahin jumped into the competition for coronavirus vaccines essentially overnight after realizing the seriousness of the oncoming pandemic. Inside BioNTech, we initially put together a strong team of 40 people. Based on the genetic sequence of the virus, the team rapidly developed 20 possible vaccine candidates and began testing them in laboratory animals, narrowing down potential serum areas. At the same time, BioNTech turned to pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, offering to team up for the clinical research phase.

To date, more than 43,500 people have participated in Phase III trials. Some participants were given two placebo injections at 3-week intervals, while others were given vaccine candidates. Neither the subject nor the participating doctors knew who received what. When a total of 94 subjects were infected with COVID-19, the data were first analyzed by an independent expert. According to the analysis, the vaccine provided “more than 90 percent” protection, as the press release pointed out.

What about other mRNA vaccines that are in direct competition with BioNTech? Franz-Werner Haas, CEO of Tubingen-based biotechnology company Curevac, told DERSPIEGEL that his company’s vaccine candidates have proven safe at all dose levels tested. The definitive study for approval will begin by the end of the year, he said. Also, Moderna, a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said Norbert Pradi could quickly show “similar results” to what BioNTech created.

But until that happened, the focus was on mRNA pioneers Mainz biotechnology companies. Despite the fact that vaccines need to be stored and transported at minus 70 degrees Celsius, and despite the fact that each dose in the United States costs nearly $ 20, and its effectiveness has not yet been conclusively proven. Nevertheless, the vaccine is at the end of 2021. All of the predicted 1.3 billion doses.