Vaccine maker recounts ‘breakfast table’ pivot to COVID work
Associated PressBERLIN — The doctor who led development of the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized in the United States, Britain and elsewhere said her company’s decision to shift from cancer research to battling the coronavirus happened over breakfast as the possibility of a pandemic was starting to seem likely. “I can remember the precise day, Jan. 24, when we made the decision at the breakfast table,” Ozlem Tureci, the chief medical officer of BioNTech said Thursday. “And that’s why we entered into a partnership with a company that’s been doing this for decades and is leading in the field, Pfizer.” U.K. regulators gave BioNTech’s vaccine emergency authorization on Dec. 2, based on submissions that included data showing an efficacy rate of 95%. “You believed in your technology.” The bet paid off not just for Mainz-based BioNTech, but also for the company’s early backers who saw the potential for drugs that are tailor-made for specific diseases.
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