Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin have been awarded high honors for contributing to the “containment of the coronavirus pandemic.” But the BioNTech founders feel uncomfortable with the cult status they have in Germany.
Hardly a year ago, Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin were still largely unknown names in the world of Big Pharma. Having founded their small biotech firm with the name BioNTech only in 2008, the work of the married couple focused primarily on cancer research.
But due to the devastating coronavirus pandemic and BioNTech’s project named “Lightspeed” launched in mid-January 2020, erstwhile the husband and wife team have become much feted around the world for developing the first vaccine against COVID-19 — the disease caused by an infection with the virus. Their shot, produced with US partner Pfizer, has proven more than 90% effective in creating immunity against the original virus, and reportedly also against its British and South African variants.
Therefore, one can rightly say BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin and his chief medical officer, Özlem Türeci, are saving the lives of millions of people around the world.
