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The number of vaccines available against the coronavirus is still insufficient, said two executives from the German company BioNTech. Ozlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin on Friday to the German newspaper Der Spiegel. As they said, it will be decided at the end of January whether they will be able to find a new partner for production and how many more batches they will be able to produce, writes MTI.
Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin are oncologists specialized in immunotherapy. His name was released on November 9, when a vaccine developed jointly by the research company they founded, BioNTech, and the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, made a breakthrough in the global fight against the coronavirus epidemic. The BNT162b2 vaccine, developed in Mainz, has been shown to be effective in more than 90 percent of clinical trials, providing protection for almost all those vaccinated. A total of 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine are planned to be marketed worldwide.
Sahin said that the coronavirus can be controlled immunologically, as evidenced by the 95 percent efficacy, as well as the reactions of antibodies and T cells. He explained that the diversity of immune responses is especially important when the virus continues to mutate. He noted that, as far as they know, the vaccine is also effective against a significantly more contagious mutant discovered in Britain. However, tests are still under way to determine if it is suitable for neutralizing multiple mutants.
According to Türeci, in the event of a strong mutation in the virus, it is possible to personalize the vaccine, that is, the genetic information of the current viral antigens is replaced by that of the new mutated viruses; the process would take six weeks, he added. The researchers hope that the duration of protection from vaccination will be the same as the duration of natural protection from other infections. Protection can be further increased with the second vaccine, and an even greater effect is expected with a third vaccine, possibly a year later. The test data will determine if this is necessary. The type of vaccine that can be stored at higher temperatures is expected to be on the market in late summer. This is because the current vaccine, co-produced with Pfizer, must be stored at minus 70 degrees.
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