The Turkish German couple behind the landmark coronavirus vaccine are the latest recipients of Germany's prestigious Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter medical prize. Özlem Türeci and her husband Uğur Şahin were awarded the prize, which comes with 120,000 euros ($132,000) in prize money, on Monday evening at a ceremony in Frankfurt. Along with the couple, the prize was handed to Hungarian-American scientist Katalin Kariko, senior vice president of BioNTech co-founded by Uğur Şahin.
Şahin said after receiving the prize that they expected their vaccine's messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology will soon be used to fight other diseases. "We believe we will see a number of successes in the next five to 10 years," he said.
The fact that they succeeded in developing a vaccine against the coronavirus in only 10 months has had a major impact on medicine, Şahin said. "The success is the beginning of an era for mRNA therapeutics." The technology is already being tested against various infectious diseases and cancer, but the treatment of autoimmune or heart muscle diseases is also conceivable.
For the first time in the 70-year history of the award, the winners of two years were honored at the same prize-giving event. Last year's award ceremony in Frankfurt's St Paul's Church was canceled due to the pandemic.
