Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci: Federal Cross of Merit for the founders of BioNTech

For their commitment to fighting the corona pandemic, the founders of the vaccine manufacturer BioNTech should be honored with the highest merit. Federal President Steinmeier will present it in the presence of Chancellor Merkel.

BioNTech entrepreneur couple Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin are honored with the Federal Cross of Merit. The founders of the biotechnology group received the award for the short-term development and approval of a vaccine against Covid-19, as announced by the Federal Presidency. With their “tireless efforts”, Türeci and Sahin made a “decisive contribution to contain the crown pandemic.”

According to the information, on March 19 the award of the highest category of German merit to the business couple by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be held at the Bellevue Palace in the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Therefore, it is the first personal medal presentation of the federal president this year.

Originally active in cancer research

The medical couple Türeci and Sahin founded the BioNTech company in 2008 to develop cancer therapies. Instead of chemotherapy or radiation, the body must be individually and specifically trained to fight the cancer itself. To do this, the development of a process using mRNA began, which had already been considered in the 1990s by the biologist and later founder of the Tübingen company CureVac, Ingmar Hoerr.

Since April last year, BioNTech has developed a vaccine against the Sars-CoV-2 virus under the direction of Türeci and Sahin. Here too mRNA technology was used. The vaccine, dubbed BNT162b2, received its conditional marketing authorization in the EU on December 21. So far, it is considered one of the most effective preparations against a serious Covid 19 disease. According to a laboratory study, the vaccine is also effective against variants of the virus that first appeared in the UK and South Africa.