BioNTech Annual General Meeting Successful with mRNA technology

Status: 22.06.2021 10:25 a.m.

At today’s Annual General Meeting, the BioNTech top management can boast great successes. This is not only due to the corona vaccine, in which the company has left many competitors behind.

From Bianca von der Au, ARD stock exchange studio

What happened to the Tübingen-based vaccine manufacturer CureVac is actually the norm in the biotech industry: one drug candidate disappoints. Research is tedious and devours billions. The rapid success of the competitor BioNTech was more than a stroke of luck, believes asset manager Hendrik Leber from the private corporation Acatis. The Mainz biotech company did a lot of things right, he says. “BioNTech made the decision very quickly to develop a vaccine at all. And the choice of partner to work with Pfizer was an extremely good decision.” The US pharmaceutical company opened the door to the American market and at the same time pushed ahead with marketing and clinical studies at a rapid pace.

Does CureVac’s chance lie in the mutants?

The Tübingen competitor CureVac is not only lagging in terms of time, but also in terms of time Effectiveness of his vaccine after. Experts are divided as to whether this deficit can be made up at all. Pharmaceutical specialist Alexander Nuyken from the consulting company EY gives the race is not lost for CureVac – in view of the constant number of new mutations and a low vaccination rate among the world’s population.

mRNA vaccine with great potential

However, the EY expert sees enormous potential in biotechnology, especially in the field, beyond the corona vaccine novel mRNA technology , which CureVac is also researching. “It was originally not developed with Covid in mind, but for completely different therapies, such as cancer”recalls Nuyken. There is the potential to address other diseases with this technology, namely, according to the expert, “cheaper, faster and more efficient.”

There is great hope – not only among investors – that mRNA technology can develop effective agents against previously incurable diseases – not only against cancer, but also against Alzheimer’s, for example. BioNTech has been researching a vaccine against cancer for a long time and, a few days ago, treated a skin cancer patient with an mRNA vaccine for the first time in a phase II study.

Would you like more willingness to take risks?

The path to the surprising success with the corona vaccine was only possible for BioNTech thanks to patient donors in the background. EY pharma expert Nuyken believes that there is a need for greater willingness to take risks in Germany. “How do we get the good science that we undoubtedly have in Germany in companies? And how can we then further develop these companies until they are ready for the market?”the expert asks.

He sees this as the biggest hurdle in the German environment. “In contrast to the American market, we have significantly less capital that is available for the development of these companies.” So it’s no wonder that CureVac and BioNTech have been listed on the Nasdaq technology exchange in the USA in the past two years. But also in Germany, Corona and the search for a vaccine have put the biotech industry in the (spotlight) light. According to EY, the German biotechnology company is in the Corona year 2020 so much capital flowed in as never before . In CureVac, the federal government even invested 300 million euros – a risky investment

At the Fosun Pharma’s shareholders’ meeting held last week, Fosun Pharma stated thatBioNTechThe co-developed new crown mRNA vaccine Fubitai is still waiting for approval. At present, the approval process for pharmacy is basically completed, and the approval requirements and materials to be carried out in the follow-up have basically been sorted out.

Fosun Pharma: mRNA Covid-19vaccineAwaiting approval, the localized production line will be completed in August

Wu Yifang, Chairman of Fosun Pharma, revealed that “mRNA is a brand-new technical route. Under approval,countryThe Food and Drug Administration has some groundbreaking things to do, and we conducted in-depth exchanges throughout the process.countryThe Food and Drug Administration has given a lot of guidance and feedback is very fast. “It is understood that the matters required for the pharmacy-related conditional approval have been basically completed, and the subsequent conditional research and clinical requirements to be carried out are basically clear.

At the general meeting of shareholders, Fosun Pharma revealed thatBioNTechTechnology transfer and equipment ordering are already underway.BioNTechDispatchedexpertI have gone to the Jinshan plant in Shanghai to work with the Fosun Pharma team. Both parties have a daily meeting on various professional working groups. The localized production line is expected to be completed in August,beginnormal production.

Source: Network

Some people in the industry have put forward a point of view that Fosun Pharma and Germany’sBioNTechIt belongs to the joint venture agency model, and its essence is to exchange technology for the market.

As early as May 9, Fosun Pharma issued a major announcement stating that its holding subsidiary Fosun PharmaBioNTechInvest in the establishment of a joint venture company to realize the new mRNA crownvaccineLocalized production and commercialization of products.

At the beginning of last year, the two parties signed a license agreement, agreed to pay a license fee and pay a sales commission based on a certain percentage of the product’s annual gross profit.forGuaranteeChinese market mRNA Covid-19vaccineSupply, Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry andBioNTechSigned the “License Agreement Amendment One” on December 15, 2020, to promote mRNA COVID-19 in stages such as the import of finished products, the import of large-package preparations in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), and localized production.vaccineChina sales and supply reached an agreement.In order to further implement the relevant mRNA new crown in the “License Agreement Amendment One”vaccineArrangements for localized production, both partiesup to dateThe announcement announced the signing of the “Terms”, the establishment of a joint venture company, and an agreement that Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry should provide an annual production capacity of up to 1 billion doses of mRNA.vaccineProduction facilities and injected the facility as part of the capital contribution into the joint venture company.

onvaccineFor subsequent commercialization issues, the two parties agreed that the joint venture company will hire an affiliate of Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry as the CSO to provide mRNA new crowns in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan)vaccineMarket and sales services, and pay corresponding fees to the CSO in accordance with the contract.

Subsequently, at the beginning of 2021, the BNT162b2 vaccine (Fobitai) was approved for emergency use in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macau Special Administrative Region respectively, and was used in the vaccination programs of the above-mentioned two regional governments in March.

According to CCTV News, as of June 14th, 31 provinces, municipalities (including the Corps) across the country had cumulatively reported vaccination against the new crownvaccineThe number of doses exceeded 900 million, even if Fosun Pharma’svaccineWhen approved, how much market will be left to it is a question of great concern to many investors.

There are barriers to the production technology of mRNA vaccines entering the sprint stage

At present, the domestic competition for the approval and listing of mRNA vaccines has entered a fierce stage.In addition to Fosun Pharma, the mRNA vaccines that Abbio is responsible for research and development, and Watson Bio is responsible for the production and promotion of mRNA vaccines are the current domesticthe firstA mRNA vaccine that has entered clinical phase III. On May 11, the Mexican Foreign Minister announced that the mRNA new crown vaccine developed by a Chinese companyARCoVWill start in Mexico on the 30th of this monthIIIPhase trial, it is estimated that 6000 volunteers will participate, thisvaccineIt is the joint research and development of the Military Academy of Sciences, Aibo Biology, Watson Biology, and the three parties.

Different from the cooperation model of Fosun Pharma, the research and development of Aibo Biological and Watson BiologicalARCoVThe vaccine has independent intellectual property rights, and itscoreThe raw materials and key equipment have been made domestically. In December 2020, Watson builds China’s first mRNA new crownvaccineProduction workshop,ARCoVThe vaccine is expected to be completed and put into production within 8 months, with a production capacity of 120 million doses per year in the first phase.

It has always been a concern in the industry that the domestically produced mRNA vaccines of Watson Biologics and Fosun Pharma will be the first to cross the line in China.Former Shanghai Center for Disease ControlvaccineExpert Tao Lina believes that Fubitai is an imported product after all. If it is successfully approved for listing in the future, it is most likely to be listed conditionally.He told Ao Yi News reporter that, in comparison, the local company Watson Biotech may have an advantage in production. “After all, it is our local Chinese company, and Fosun andBioNTechBecause of the cooperation model, it may be slower in production. ”

Regarding the localized production of Fubitai, Fosun Pharma stated that the company hasBioNTechTechnology transfer and equipment ordering are already underway.BioNTechDispatchedexpertI have gone to the Jinshan plant in Shanghai to work with the Fosun Pharma team. Both parties have a daily meeting on various professional working groups. Fosun Pharma expects that the joint venture agreement will be implemented in June 2021 and the localized production line will be completed in August.beginnormal production. According to Wu Yifang, in terms of production capacity design, considering that the production line will be transferred to other mRNA vaccines and global demand, production capacity will retain the possibility of growth.

Earlier, Abbio and its partner institutions introduced its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in a paper published in the journal Cell in September 2020.ARCoVProduction process. The paper introduces that the aqueous solution of mRNA and the ethanol solution of lipid molecules are quickly mixed, so that the lipid molecules form LNP that encapsulates the mRNA, and then the ethanol is removed by tangential flow filtration and concentrated to obtain the original solution.

Although the above process seems simple, the founder andchiefIn an interview with the media, executive InBev pointed out that it involved the determination of a large number of process parameters.coreTechnology”. The determination of these parameters fundamentally determines the performance of the product, and only a few companies have it.

Tao Lina introduced to Ao Yi reporters that the two domestically producedvaccineThere are two differences in the technical details: Fubitel uses all the S protein of the virus asvaccineTarget ingredient, WatsonvaccineUse the RBD region on the viral S protein asvaccineTarget component. RBD is the key to the virus being able to attach to human cells. The mutation is not large. If the mutation is large, it may not be able to infect the human body.vaccineIt may be more effective in dealing with virus mutations; in addition, there are other areas on the S protein that can stimulate the body to produce antibodies. These antibodies may not have the effect of neutralizing the virus, and theoretically may also lead to ADEeffect, Which helps the virus infect the human body.So, theoretically, the RBD vaccine may be moreSafetysome.The lipid carrier used in both is LNP, but Fubitai must be cryopreserved, WatsonvaccineIt is announced that it can be stored at 2-8 degrees.

HaitongInternationalAccording to the research report, there are many difficulties in mRNA production. One is that the carrier used is usually nanometer-sized, with a diameter of usually less than 200 nanometers, so the production process is more demanding; in addition, the capping rate will also affect the activity and side effects of the product. However, the preparation process has a great influence on the stability of the product, and how to maintain the purity of the product is also a challenge. “Capping” is the process of modifying mRNA molecules.

“Fragrant Rice Cakes” in the Capital Market: What is the prospect of mRNA?

With the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, mRNA vaccines became famous in the first battle.

Former Shanghai Center for Disease ControlvaccineExpert Tao Lina told Ao Yi news reporter that in the new crownvaccinePreviously, most of the early work on mRNA vaccines focused onTumoraspect.cancerThe vaccine istreatmentSexual, not preventive, aimed atTumorPreferentially expressed by cellsTumorRelated antigens, therefore, stimulating cell-mediated immune responses can reduceTumorburden.

In this new crown epidemic, the unprecedented cooperation environment and government investment have prompted effective data and large-scale applications tovaccineProvides a conceptualverification.Government support helps manufacturers scale up at risk while gainingthe firstBatch validity data. Two foreign companies that first developed mRNA vaccines——BioNTech(Bintech),Moderna(Modena) Announced separatelyIIIClinical data,ModernaIn the clinical data of (Modena), among 30,000 vaccinators,vaccineThe effective rate is 94.5%, and the critical illness protection is 100%. November 9, 2020BioNTechofIIIPhase clinical data released, mRNA vaccineThe effective rate exceeds 90%.

Tao Lina believes that the mRNA vaccine is effective, and the corresponding vaccinators should also receive a “greater response.” “ThisvaccineTo stimulate antibody immunity and cellular immunity at the same time, and cellular immunity will release a lot of cytokines, leading to adverse reactions in the vaccinated person. “He thinks that because there are other less reactivevaccineFor reference, it is not ruled out that the people will inoculate different types of vaccines according to their own acceptance.vaccine.

Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, there have been many cases of cooperation between domestic pharmaceutical companies and mRNA companies:

On May 20, 2020, CanSino and Precision Canada NanoSystems(PNI) companies jointly developed a technology based on mRNA lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNP)vaccine；

On December 7, 2020, Zhifei Biological announced that it plans to subscribe for 10.189% of the shares of Shenxin Biological with its own funds of 35 million yuan to deploy the third-generation mRNA vaccine technology platform.

On May 9, 2021, Fosun Pharma invested 100 million U.S. dollars to cooperate with a German biotech companyBioNTechSet up a joint venture company to realize the new mRNA crownvaccineLocalized production and commercialization.

It can be said that the outbreak of the new crown epidemic has pushed the mRNA pharmaceutical industry to an unprecedented climax, and the domestic mRNA pharmaceutical industry has finally ushered in the spring of development.

Large-scale financing of mRNA technology companies has also received attention. Just at the beginning of June, Si Microbiology announced that it has officially completed a new round of financing of 200 million US dollars, breaking the record of a single financing for domestic mRNA companies.At the “2021 Pujiang Innovation Forum” held recently, Li Hangwen, founder, chairman and CEO of Sri Microbiology, stated that mRNA vaccines should have become the world’s most frequently administered vaccine.vaccine, Both in clinical trial results and in the real world have shown good results, suchvaccineIt can also be adjusted quickly to deal with virus mutations. In addition, unlike many traditionalvaccineCompared with the development route, mRNA vaccines can activate stronger cellular immunity.

Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, once stated at an industry conference that mRNA technology is effective for infectious diseases,AIDS, Genetic diseases, rare diseases,TumorWill provide various opportunities, hoping to develop classic traditionsvaccineWhen considering the benefits that mRNA vaccines may bring to humans.

Ao Yi News reporter Lin Shiyan

Australia is trying to prepare for a plan to produce an mRNA technology vaccine in this country. (Source: Reuters) In a recent meeting with the Senate, Mr. David Luchetti of the Australian Ministry of Industry and Science said that the Australian authorities have asked manufacturers to detail the potential for vaccine development in Australia. Australia. Currently, the Australian Ministry of Technology and Science has received applications from 15 companies, of which 5 are under consideration. The available information shows that if the production of mRNA technology vaccines on the basis of existing factories, it may take Australia 1-2 years to produce the first batches of vaccines. However, if a completely new factory is built, it may take 3-4 years for a new mRNA technology vaccine to be born in Australia. So at the moment it is difficult to predict when Australia will be able to produce an mRNA vaccine. Compared with traditional technology, mRNA promises to be more effective, faster, safer, with fewer side effects; can compare the difference like a motorbike and a jet. To make it easy to understand, the process of synthesizing each protein in the human body is like solving a complex math problem, mRNA becomes a manual of mathematical formulas. If humans can create a vaccine in the form of artificial mRNA, when injected into the body, the mRNA will disguise itself as a “thief” that sneaks in but does not wake up the “host”, it silently builds a defense system. are antibody proteins, so that when the virus attacks, it will be destroyed by that system. Regarding the possibility of Moderna company building a vaccine factory in Australia, Mr. David Luchetti said that Australia is currently in discussions with Moderna about this plan, but until now it is still uncertain about what. (according to VOV)

Australia is trying to prepare for a plan to produce an mRNA technology vaccine in this country. Source: Reuters However, if a completely new factory is built, it may take 3 to 4 years for a new mRNA technology vaccine to be available in Australia. So at the moment it is difficult to predict when Australia will be able to produce an mRNA vaccine. Regarding the possibility of Moderna company building a vaccine production plant in Australia, Mr. David Luchetti said that Australia is currently in discussions with Moderna about this plan, but until now it is still uncertain about what. / .

Kariko Katalin. Photo: Euronews What is mRNA technology? Vaccines with mRNA technology are Covid-19 vaccine most awaited. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pioneered and quickly approved this vaccine. Compared with traditional technology, mRNA promises to be more effective, faster, safer, with fewer side effects; can compare the difference like a motorbike and a jet. The concept of mRNA was learned in 9th grade, biology lectures taught that mRNA has the function of conveying information that regulates the structure of proteins. Letter m = messenger = information. To make it easy to understand, the process of synthesizing each protein in the human body is like solving a complex math problem, mRNA becomes a manual of mathematical formulas. If humans can create a vaccine in the form of artificial mRNA, when injected into the body, the mRNA will disguise itself as a “thief” that sneaks in but does not wake up the “host”, it silently builds a defense system. are antibody proteins, so that when the virus attacks, it will be destroyed by that system. mRNA urges, haunts Kariko Katalin Kariko Katalin is obsessed with mRNA, she understands this is a very special type of RNA that holds all the secrets to creating billions of billions of proteins in the human body. Theoretically, science can completely manipulate mRNA to create a targeted protein, doing that, mRNA becomes the most powerful weapon to control a variety of diseases. But that’s just a theory. Understanding of mRNA in the 1980s was still very limited. In principle, when injecting mRNA into the human body, it is an allergen, so the body’s defense system will immediately destroy it before the mRNA can perform its functions. That is, the mRNA vaccine, no matter how cleverly disguised, is still a “thief”. But what is more serious, is that the human body’s instinctive resistance to the “thief” is too strong, creating a severe immune response that is potentially fatal. After a lot of failures, most scientists gave up, no one cares about mRNA anymore, that knowledge is scattered on the pages of 9th and 10th grade biology textbooks, so that students can take exams with these questions. boring question. Kariko Katalin was undaunted and continued to dive into research. All efforts paid off when Katalin’s work attracted the attention of two young companies Moderna (Canada) and BioNTech (Germany), after which the giant Pfizer (USA) decided to invest in the production of Covid vaccines. -19 by mRNA technology. That is like winning a ticket to Mars. mRNA technology will not stop at vaccine production, but in the not too distant future, a series of “diseases” such as cancer, stroke, or other dangerous diseases also promise to be “cleared”. The floating life of Kariko Katalin Kariko Katalin was born on January 17, 1955 in Szolnok (Hungary), in a cottage without amenities, but full of love for a family home. Kariko Katalin inherited a gene for biology from her father, a pork salesman, a gene for research perseverance from her mother, an accountant, and was inspired by her passion for biology from the teachers at the school she attended. study. Due to poverty, Kariko Katalin devoted herself to her university years, winning a scholarship to the People’s Republic of Hungary, the most prestigious scholarship at that time. Katalin went on to study for a doctorate, then worked at the biological research center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Szeged. Kariko Katalin pursues mRNA technology. It is an area that requires a lot of investment. Hungary in the 1980s was the most liberal and open country in the former Soviet bloc, but it also didn’t have the money to fund major research. Kariko Katalin lost her job at the age of 30. She initially looked for a job in the European Union, but nowhere would accept it, because Katalin had no significant scientific achievements. One afternoon in 1985, Kariko Katalin and her husband took their 2-year-old daughter out of Hungary to find her way to America. The only asset of any value is the old car, which sold for £900 on the black market. To make it through, Kariko Katalin had to cut open her daughter’s toy teddy bear, insert £900, and then sew it back up. Initially in the US, Kariko Katalin was accepted to work at Temple University, but soon her group was disbanded because of lack of funding. In 1989, Kariko Katalin joined the faculty of pharmacy at the University of Pennsylvania. Although she is a full professor, this is the most difficult time, the salary is very low and no one believes her. Things took a turn for the worse in 1995, Kariko couldn’t get funding, couldn’t find a project, and the University of Pennsylvania decided to fire her. It was a horrible time. The room Kariko Katalin lived in was leaking in every evening rain. She has just been diagnosed with cancer while her husband is in Hungary and cannot come to the US because of visa problems. How much time and dedication work seems to be slipping out of hand. “I started to suspect that maybe I wasn’t good, I wasn’t smart. I try to tell myself that everything is here, I just need to do better experiments,” said Kariko Katalin. Turning point In 1998, Kariko Katalin finally received the first $100,000 grant. Strangely enough, that year she also met a man of her life. It was that fateful afternoon, Kariko Katalin went to photocopy documents, she met Drew Weissmen, a colleague who had just moved from the National Institutes of Health. In the meantime, Kariko Katalin told Weissmen about the idea of ​​creating mRNA. Immediately Weissmen saw before his eyes a priceless fortune. Weissmen decided to invest, collaborate with Kariko Katalin, determined to develop mRNA technology in the field of biomedicine. In 2005, the attenuated version of mRNA was released. After reading the study, Derrick Rossi, a Canadian stem cell expert who is doing a PhD student at Stanford University, was amazed. The time has come. Realizing a super profitable business opportunity, Rossi quietly sought investment capital, he founded a small company, named Moderna. In Germany, a new research team also discovered the potential of Kariko Katalin, a new company BioNTech was founded, based in the US. In 2013, BioNTech hired Karko Katalin as a senior mRNA specialist. Moderna and BioNTech did not do much until 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Moderna promoted the production of vaccines by mRNA technology, adding the company BioNTech invested by Pfizer billions of dollars determined to turn their ideas into Kariko Katalin come true.

The Peter Doherty Institute of Infectious and Immunology will join Monash University, the University of Melbourne and a number of other research centers as the recipients of funding to develop the above plan. Vaccination against Covid-19 in Australia is facing many challenges due to lack of supply. (Source: Reuters) Scientists at the Peter Doherty Institute said they are working on a “preventive” vaccine with mRNA technology that can be modified to fight variations. Mr. Merlino said that this plan is an important event, not only for Victoria but for the entire country of Australia. Besides, he affirmed that the support budget will be increased when the project is developed in the future. Australia is currently only capable of producing AstraZeneca’s vaccines, with the initial plan being that the CSL facility in the city of Melbourne will produce more than 50 million doses. Vaccination against Covid-19 in Australia is facing many challenges due to the lack of vaccine supply, as well as the safety of the vaccine in relation to the side effects of thrombosis. (Reuters)

Acting Premier of Victoria, James Merlino. (Source: abc.net.au) On the morning of April 21, Mr. James Merlino, acting Premier of Victoria ( Australia ) announced that it would provide AUD 50 million (approximately US $ 38.6 million) to launch a project to develop vaccine production technology for mRNA at state vaccine research facilities. Under the project, it will take at least 12 months for Australia to be able to produce any vaccine under it mRNA technology . The move will pave the way for vaccines using mRNA technology such as Pfizer and Moderna to be produced in Australia, according to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Sydney. The Peter Doherty Institute of Infectious and Immunology will join Monash University, the University of Melbourne and a number of other research centers as the recipients of the funding to develop the above plan. Scientists at the Peter Doherty Institute say they are working on a “preventive” vaccine with mRNA technology that can be modified to fight variations. Mr. Merlino said that this plan is an important event, not only for Victoria but for the whole of Australia. Besides, he affirmed that the support budget will be increased when the project is developed in the future. Australia is currently only capable vaccine production of AstraZeneca with the initial plan that the CSL facility in the city of Melbourne will produce more than 50 million doses. Vaccination work COVID-19 Australia is facing many challenges due to the lack of vaccine supplies, as well as the safety of this vaccine related to the side effects of thrombosis.

From Axel John, SWR In Germany, the vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 have been running for almost four months. It seems to be becoming increasingly clear that the vaccines from the manufacturers BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna with the new mRNA principle work best. AstraZeneca’s preparation with its gene-based vector vaccine is only given to elderly patients after a few cases of thrombosis. The Johnson & Johnson vector vaccine also had concerns long before it has now been released . Will mRNA technology dominate the market in the future?

Initially skeptical about mRNA methods

Norbert Pfeiffer can still remember the beginning of the Covid crisis in the spring of last year. The chairman of the board of the Unimedizin Mainz had quickly heard that Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin work on an mRNA vaccine against corona. Pfeiffer knows the BioNTech founders well. Türeci and Sahin had worked as cancer specialists in the clinic for years. Already there they pushed their idea of ​​an mRNA process – albeit in the fight against cancer.

Messenger RNA Messenger RNA, or mRNA for short, is a messenger molecule that brings genetic information from the cell nucleus to the ribosomes. These are the areas of the cell in which – according to the instructions for the genetic information – proteins are formed. The vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 use mRNA to stimulate the human body to produce its own antibodies as “drugs” against the coronavirus. Vaccines based on mRNA can be developed, adapted and manufactured more quickly than conventional preparations such as vector or dead vaccines. “There was skepticism about the mRNA technology against corona. Conventional vaccinations, such as those against flu, have been administered with great success for decades. But vector vaccines, for example against Ebola or dengue fever, have also been in use for a long time many hoped again in the Corona crisis. But this assessment has completely reversed “, Pfeiffer draws an initial interim balance. “The mRNA active ingredient against Covid-19 was finished earlier. With around 95 percent, the vaccination with the BioNTech active ingredient is very effective. It is thus far above the other protection rates. That was not expected.” And even after the clinical tests, the mRNA vaccine has proven itself, said Pfeiffer. “Overall, the side effects were very moderate. At AstraZeneca with the vector vaccine, there were very rare exceptional cases of thrombosis. Even if this is a good vaccine, the mRNA vaccine performed better in many areas and made a breakthrough. ”

Norbert Pfeiffer still knows the BioNTech founders Türeci and Sahin from their work as cancer specialists at the University of Mainz. Image: Mainz University Hospital

Vector vaccines are, however, indispensable

But is this only a one-off success in the fight against Corona or will the mRNA process also establish itself in other areas? “I’ll compare that with the development of cameras,” explains Pfeiffer. “Cameras with film were very good 20 years ago. The first digital cameras were very expensive and could hardly keep up in terms of quality. Today there are hardly any cameras with film. Many companies have invested, researched, produced and competed. I suspect that in the mRNA process it could be similar. ” At present, mRNA vaccines could by far not meet the global demand with a world population of almost 7.8 billion people, says Pfeiffer. “They can produce, store and administer vector vaccines cheaply all over the world. The preparations are very robust. The mRNA process, on the other hand, is expensive, and the ingredients are very susceptible to fluctuations in the cold chain, for example. We can use them in the longer term Vector vaccines don’t do without. ”

“The world of vaccines will never be the same”

Different location, similar assessment: Matthias Kromayer works on the board of MIG AG. The former management consultant has a doctorate in molecular biology. MIG AG is currently investing in 30 start-ups – one focus: biotechnology. The company was one of the first donors at BioNTech. In 2008 the Mainz start-up received a good 13 million euros from MIG. The potential of the mRNA process was recognized early in Munich. “During the corona crisis, only one company from the pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, Merck and Pfizer backed the right horse – namely Pfizer with BioNTech,” says Kromayer. Even before that, not much had happened in terms of research for years. The HPV vaccination against cervical cancer was the last real innovation. Vaccines have only been combined – nothing more. “Medical research has changed completely in the past year due to mRNA. The world of vaccines will never be the same again,” Kromayer is convinced. With the mRNA technology, the researchers would have a completely new approach. Every disease has a biological origin, explains Kromayer. mRNA as a messenger substance is always included in these processes, and that’s why you can start here – not only with SARS-CoV-2. Kromayer cites a current example from BioNTech: Just a few weeks ago, the company achieved the first promising results against multiple sclerosis – also using mRNA. “These are huge possibilities. The mRNA technology can also help the fastest in the fight against Corona. Should a new mutation soon appear after the British variant, you would have a new vaccine against it within 48 hours. After quality controls, the new preparation could then available after six weeks. ”

EU relies on mRNA in the long term

The subject of speed in the pandemic now also plays a major role in Brussels. After the EU Commission ordered too late and too few vaccines last year, people now seem to want to learn from their mistakes. So far, the EU has ordered 300 million cans from AstraZeneca and 200 million from Johnson & Johnson. It shouldn’t be more here, because both manufacturers offer vector vaccines.

“Only Pfizer bet on the right horse,” says MIG AG board member Matthias Kromayer. Image: MIG AG “I see no reason to saddle up again. The mRNA vaccines protect better and have fewer side effects,” explains Peter Liese. The Christian Democrat is the health policy spokesman for the EPP Group in the European Parliament. “In the long term, the main issue is how do we get the best vaccine that will protect us from further mutations in 2022? All of this speaks in favor of mRNA. The Commission should also rely on it in the long term.” This assessment fits in with the fact that the Commission only started negotiations with BioNTech / Pfizer on a third contract a few days ago. It is about 1.8 billion doses of vaccines for the years 2022 and 2023. There was no mention of other providers.

mRNA technology speeds everything up

The mRNA technology accelerates research enormously – but what does that mean for the testing authorities such as the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA)? For medical professional Pfeiffer this is clear: “The authorities have to speed up. Further Covid mutations must be expected in the short term. The mRNA principle has already been approved and will only be sharpened for a new variant.” The same applies to other diseases – such as cancer. “If an individualized therapy is only developed for one patient using mRNA, the authorities cannot check everything again. That would take far too long for successful treatment. The principle has to be checked and approved once.” In Munich, too, analyst Kromayer speaks a lot about speed. “We would never have dreamed of this rapid development. We had the hope of getting the first approved personalized cancer vaccines based on mRNA from 2024. BioNTech and Moderna were the pacemakers in the Covid crisis. Many other companies are now turning to mRNA -Technology jump and that will speed everything up again. “