Scientists receive prestigious prize from the Novo Nordisk Foundation in recognition of their decades-long tremendous research and development efforts and impact on people's lives and society.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation is awarding the Novo Nordisk Prize to pioneering researchers Professor Katalin Karikó, Professor Drew Weissman, Professor Uğur Şahin and Dr. Özlem Türeci for their scientific discoveries and development, which led to the approval of the first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.
The scientists have played instrumental roles in basic research and the development of the mRNA vaccine from BioNTech, which has proven 95% effective against COVID-19 and has become a decisive factor in overcoming the pandemic. By the end of the year, more than 1 billion people worldwide will have been vaccinated with the vaccine.
The mRNA technology on which the vaccine is based also holds promise for future vaccines and treatments for a wide range of diseases, including cancer and genetic diseases.
"With the awarding of this Prize, we pay tribute to the people behind one of the most exceptional achievements of our time – in which scientific discoveries through the past two decades have led to the development of a vaccine with incredible speed. The mRNA vaccines have already prevented thousands of COVID-19 related deaths among people all over the world," says Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Jørgen Frøkiær, Chair of the scientific committee that awards the Novo Nordisk Prize, says: "The awarding of the Prize underlines Louis Pasteur's famous words that 'chance favours the prepared mind'. The decades-long dedicated work of these four scientists in the field of mRNA significantly contributed to a well-tolerated and highly effective COVID-19 vaccine. When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in spring 2020, Uğur Şahin und Özlem Türeci realized immediately that the technology could create the vaccine that could save humanity from the grip of the pandemic. With their unique scientific contributions and the responsible entrepreneurship, the first mRNA-based vaccine was born. It opened the door to a new and revolutionary technology – a completely new type of vaccine that could turn life-threatening diseases upside down over the coming years."
The Novo Nordisk Prize is awarded to honour active scientists who have provided outstanding contributions to advance medical science to benefit people's lives. The Prize is accompanied by DKK 5 million.
Pioneering forces
Professor Katalin Karikó, Senior Vice President at BioNTech and Adjunct Professor of Neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Drew Weissman, the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research at the Perelman School of Medicine, have been pioneering forces for more than a decade in discovering a nucleoside-modified form of mRNA.
Professor Uğur Şahin and Dr. Özlem Türeci have made scientific and technological breakthroughs in the past two decades, originally designed to unlock the full potential of this molecule for the development of mRNA-based cancer vaccines. Their pioneering work includes the discovery of modifications in the mRNA backbone that improve the amount and duration of mRNA-encoded protein production in human cells and the discovery of lipid envelopes that improve the potency and immunogenicity of mRNA vaccines.
The COVID-19 vaccine, developed in the laboratories at BioNTech's headquarters in Mainz, Germany, is based on decades of research and achieves its high efficacy and good tolerability by combining the discoveries of the four scientists. The vaccine was approved by several health authorities worldwide, including UK, USA and EU, within an unprecedented 8-month period since WHO declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic.
Recipients: science can make a difference
Katalin Karikó says: "It is a great honour to receive the Novo Nordisk Prize with my colleagues Drew Weissman, Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin. Sharing the spotlight with them makes this Prize extra special. As a result of our joint scientific efforts over many years, a safe and very effective COVID-19 mRNA vaccine wa...
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