German physician and entrepreneur of Turkish origin, Ozlem Tureci, co-founder of biotech company BioNTech, which developed the world’s first approved RNA vaccine against COVID-19, made predictions about the future of the coronavirus pandemic.
Emphasizing that people around the world should not live in constant fear of COVID-19, Ozlem Tureci said on Thursday that the coronavirus will persist for another couple of years, the Turkish Daily Sabah writes.
Speaking during a TV broadcast on CNBC, Tureji stressed that the new coronavirus “has begun to become manageable.”
A German scientist of Turkish origin also said that her company is closely monitoring new variants of the virus, and new strains will develop over time. “At the moment, booster doses that push the immune response to a higher level seem to be protective in and of themselves for every option that exists,” said Ozlem Tureji.
Tyureji also warned that her company must continue to monitor new options, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may not protect against some future strains, and should be prepared for such an opportunity so that appropriate action can be taken quickly.
The scientist also said booster doses of the coronavirus vaccine could be administered every 12 or 18 months in the future, adding that specialists need more research data to help fully get out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the biggest concerns about the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and its safety is that it was developed within a year, but not everyone knows that the company has been working on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology for many years. The company has begun research into “groundbreaking individualized immunotherapy” for cancer treatment using its mRNA technology, which stimulates the body’s own immune response.
“So we already had the science and knowledge about immune mechanisms and how they can be used against viruses, and we could use that,” says Tureji.
“And the other pillar of our response has been our technology, mRNA technology that allows it to be used as a vaccine format, which means that it allows it to communicate with the immune system and teach it how to respond to a new adversary with high precision,” she added. …
Ozlem Tureji noted that the technology is “ripe” as they used it in clinical trials to fight cancer. “We knew how to conduct clinical trials with him, how to treat people with it, and how to set up a manufacturing process,” she said. The company is also trying to develop a vaccine for malaria.
The founding biochemists of the German company BioNTech, who developed a COVID-19 vaccine using mRNA technology, also recently received Germany’s most prestigious medical research award. The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstadter Prize will go to BioNTech founders Özlem Tureci and Uhur ahin, as well as biochemist Katalin Kariko, who joined their company in 2013.
In March, Ugur ahin and Ozlem Türeki also received Germany’s highest award, the Knight’s Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit, for their work on the vaccine. And last year, the Financial Times also named them “People of the Year.”
Both ahin and Tureji were born to immigrant parents from Turkey who moved to Germany in the 1960s.
Ugur Shahin was born in Iskenderun (Turkey) in 1965, but as a 4-year-old he was brought to Germany, where his father worked in an automobile plant. He studied medicine at the University of Cologne and worked for several years at the Saarland University Medical Center.
Tureji is the daughter of a Turkish doctor who emigrated to Germany from Istanbul. She studied medicine at the University of Saarland School of Medicine and pioneered cancer immunotherapy in Germany.
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