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Ugur Shaheen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the German company Biontech, which is developing a vaccine against the Corona virus with the participation of the American Pfizer, revealed important details about the next vaccine.
Dr. Shaheen said in an interview with the Al-Jazeera news channel that they are currently working with a number of institutions that will provide the vaccine to poor countries, as it is important that sufficient quantities of the vaccine are produced for it to be available. in all parts of the world, explaining that this is one of the objectives they are working on. .
And on the effectiveness of the vaccine, he said they now have some preliminary data showing the vaccine’s ability to prevent infection by the virus in more than 90 percent in people who received the vaccine, and this indicates that its effectiveness it is very high, adding that they will get more data during the two or three weeks. Coming.
He added that the currently available data shows “primary protection”, that is, in the initial period after the administration of the vaccine, but they believe that the vaccine can remain stable in terms of effectiveness for months or even a year, but evaluate this matter requires extensive study.
Regarding the safety features of the vaccine, he said the results showed that a very small percentage, estimated at twenty percent, of those who received the vaccine experienced some moderate to low side effects, which were high temperature, which which is normal for any vaccine.
Regarding the distribution of the vaccine, he said, “in the first stage it is very important that it reaches the groups that need it most than others, such as those who work in medical institutions and all those who provide medical care to patients.”
He added: “It is known that the elderly are the most vulnerable to serious complications if they become infected with the virus, and therefore are in great need of a vaccine, especially those suffering from chronic diseases, and these are the first to receive this. vaccine”.
And then if other doses are available, they will be given to everyone, but we must wait some time for the vaccine to be available in the world.
And he added: “We believe that 2021 will witness to ensure sufficient doses, and there are also other companies that will contribute to that. Our company is not the only one that will have an effective vaccine, I am sure that other companies will also provide effective vaccines, and if we work together we can ensure an adequate, fast and effective supply. For the vaccine. “
Dr. Shaheen and his team have been working on the development of the vaccine since January, that is, since its spread in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and as soon as they know the characteristics of the virus that make it vulnerable to becoming a global pandemic .
The company decided to start a vaccination program immediately at the end of January.
Regarding the price of the vaccine, which was announced by Pfizer officials, which is $ 20, Shaheen said that this price is specific to the industrial field in the United States, and also depends on the number of doses that are secured.
He explained that when the vaccine is supplied to countries experiencing economic difficulties, the need to reduce the price will be taken into account so that it is widely available in those countries.
Who is Dr. Ugur Shaheen?
From humble origins as the son of a Turkish immigrant who works at Ford’s Cologne plant, Biontech CEO Ugur Shaheen, 55, has become one of the 100 richest Germans, along with his wife and member. board member Ozil Turritsi, 53, according to Reuters. The weekly “Welt am Sonntag”.
The Reuters report said the market value of the Nasdaq-listed company Biontech, co-founded by the pair, has risen to $ 21 billion at the close of Friday from $ 4.6 billion a year ago as the company prepares to play an important role in comprehensive immunization against coronavirus.
“Despite his accomplishments, he has never stopped being modest and incredibly stylish,” said Matthias Kromaire, a board member of venture capital company MIG AG, whose funds have supported Biontech since its inception in 2008. “
He added that Shaheen often goes to business meetings, dressed in jeans and wearing his signature helmet and backpack.
Shaheen resolutely pursued her childhood dream of studying medicine to become a physician, and worked at university hospitals in Cologne and in the southwestern city of Homburg, where she met Torrice during her early academic career, and medical research and oncology became a common passion for them.
Toriichi, the daughter of a Turkish doctor who emigrated to Germany, said in a media interview that even on their wedding day, both of them set aside time to work in the laboratory.
In 2001 they found Ganymed Pharmaceuticals to develop antibodies to fight cancer; But Shaheen, who at the time was a professor at the University of Mainz, never gave up academic research and education.
This project was sold to the Japanese company Astellas in 2016 for 1.4 billion dollars. By then, the team behind Ganymede was already busy building Biontech, which was founded in 2008, to pursue a much broader set of cancer immunotherapy tools.
The Biontech story took a turn when Shaheen came across a scientific paper on the outbreak of the new Corona virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan in January. Biontech then quickly recruited some 500 employees to work on various potential compounds, winning pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Chinese pharmaceutical company Fosun as partners in March.
Matthias Theobald, a professor of oncology at the University of Mainz who has worked with Shaheen for 20 years, said his tendency to downplay him contradicts an uncompromising ambition to transform medicine, reflected in the leap of faith to the Covid-19 vaccine.
“He is a very humble person. Appearances mean little to him. But he wants to create the structures that allow him to realize his visions, and this is where aspirations are far from humble,” he added.
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Two Turkish immigrants are partners in the development of the next Corona vaccine
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