馃攳
How BioNTech Used Cancer Research To Create Its Covid Vaccine - YouTube
Channel: CNBC
[0]
It was January 24 2020,
BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin knew
[5]
that Covid-19 was likely to
become a global pandemic.
[8]
I did some calculations and
calculated how many people were
[12]
infected. How many weeks how
many people could have traveled,
[16]
how many people could be as
symptomatic and every
[19]
calculation that I made clearly
demonstrated. This is not any
[24]
more original outbreak, but the
virus has already spread
[27]
worldwide.
[28]
Though it was over a month and a
half before the World Health
[31]
Organization officially declared
a pandemic, Sahin met with his
[34]
wife, BioNTech鈥檚 co-founder and
chief medical officer 脰zlem
[38]
T眉reci, and together they agreed
to redirect most of the
[41]
company鈥檚 resources to
developing a vaccine.
[44]
It was immediately clear to both
of us that the technology we
[49]
had, which we had already
clinically developed, could help
[53]
to ensure a rapid response.
[57]
Up until that point, BioNTech
was primarily focused on
[59]
developing novel cancer
treatments. The company was
[62]
little known internationally and
had never brought a product to
[65]
market. They were still
[66]
a small, relatively unknown
biotech company really working
[71]
on this cutting edge science.
[72]
The founders were confident in
the potential of their mRNA
[75]
technology, which they knew
could trigger a powerful immune
[78]
response. That confidence wasn't
necessarily shared by the
[82]
broader medical community. No
mRNA vaccine or treatment had
[85]
ever been approved before. But
the couple's timely breakthrough
[89]
was actually decades in the
making.
[91]
We understood that we would need
to invest some time and it would
[95]
need innovations on different
levels in order to make it
[99]
really work for vaccines and
beyond. But the potential was
[104]
already clear there.
[112]
Sahin and Tureci, whose families
both immigrated to Germany from
[115]
Turkey, met in the early 1990s,
when they were working in the
[118]
cancer ward at a hospital in
southwest Germany. Neither
[122]
envisioned a career in business.
[123]
During my time at medical
faculties studying medicine, I
[129]
also started to do my PhD, which
meant work in a laboratory. And
[135]
that actually caused a clash in
my perception.
[139]
Tureci and Sahin both realized
that while there was a little
[142]
they could offer terminal cancer
patients in the ward, in the lab
[145]
they saw lots of potential for
new treatments.
[148]
I was doing my lab work and
understood that the immune
[152]
system could be a powerful
weapon to fight cancer. And at a
[157]
certain time point, I realized
that it's not only laboratory
[160]
work, but you have really to
develop the therapies and you
[164]
need funding for that.
[165]
Out of desperation, I become
became an entrepreneur and
[170]
founder companies because I
understood that if you want to
[174]
use innovative research to
develop medicines, you have to
[180]
do it yourself.
[181]
The couple had been studying
messenger RNA or mRNA since the
[185]
late 1990s. The function of mRNA
is essentially to teach
[188]
ourselves how to make specific
proteins. But because mRNA is
[193]
very unstable and quickly
degrades in the body, they knew
[196]
there was still a long way to go
before it was ready for use in a
[199]
vaccine.
[200]
And at that time point, mRNA was
used by a very small community.
[204]
So it was like a talent you see
a young talent, you know all the
[209]
weaknesses and you know that you
have to invest a lot of years to
[213]
make the technology mature.
[215]
So in the meantime, they
co-founded their first company
[218]
Ganymed Pharmaceuticals in 2001.
Ganymed used a more established
[223]
technology, monoclonal
antibodies to treat stomach
[226]
cancer, and the couple sold the
company for 1.4 billion in 2016.
[231]
It was Germany's biggest biotech
deal ever. By that point, Sahin
[235]
and Tureci were already eigh
years into their second ventur
[238]
BioNTech. When they founded th
company in 2008, the couple fel
[243]
that they had improved th
stability of mRNA enough t
[246]
focus on developin
individualized cancer vaccine
[215]
So the biggest challenge in
cancer treatment is that every
[252]
cancer is different,
personalized or individualized.
[254]
Cancer vaccines are based on on
getting the tumor off of the
[258]
patient and analyzing that
tumor, then making a vaccine
[262]
which is tailored to the profile
to the genetic profile of the of
[267]
the patient's tumor.
[268]
Unlike traditional vaccines,
mRNA vaccines don't introduce a
[272]
weakened version of the virus
into your body. Instead, the
[275]
mRNA instructs the body to make
a specific virus protein that
[279]
will trigger an immune response
and produce antibodies, which
[282]
can be used to fight off a
cancer that's already growing,
[285]
or to protect against future
COVID-19 infections. And while
[289]
traditional vaccines require
scientists to collect and grow
[292]
large quantities of a virus, a
process that can take months,
[296]
mRNA vaccines are much faster to
produce. That's because they're
[299]
made from a DNA template in the
lab, the sequence for which can
[303]
be shared electronically in an
instant.
[306]
It's the most ancient
information technology, which
[310]
means that the organism is
prepared and has all the tools
[314]
to understand what you want to
convey in terms of messages with
[318]
mRNA.
[319]
The vision and the scientific
know how we're in place, but by
[322]
the beginning of 2020, BioNTech
had still not gotten any of its
[326]
mRNA cancer vaccines approved
for use in humans. The company
[330]
had never turned a profit. And
when it IPO in 2019, it raised
[334]
about 100 million less than it
had hoped for.
[337]
They were still a small,
relatively unknown biotech
[340]
company, really working on this
cutting edge science.
[343]
But the world was on the verge
of changing. On the day when
[347]
Sahin realized that COVID-19 had
already spread around the world,
[350]
few others were concerned.
Europe had just reported its
[354]
first few Coronavirus cases, and
Germany had not reported any
[357]
yet. But after Sahin and Tureci
talked that morning in late
[360]
January, they immediately jumped
into action.
[363]
On the weekend, we started to
decide the vaccine sequences.
[369]
And on Monday, we met our teams
explained them, this could
[373]
become a global outbreak and
that we have the obligation to
[376]
do the best that we can do to
come up with vaccine candidates.
[381]
And already on Tuesday, we had
the full commitment of the whole
[385]
team to start the development of
a new vaccine.
[388]
We are like in a military
operation. The teams were
[392]
redirected. We never put our
cancer programs at hold. So they
[397]
went on while those parts of our
company who could really help
[402]
with COVID-19 project started
step by step to pick up pace and
[408]
work on a project litespeed.
[410]
BioNTech knew that to
successfully produce tests and
[414]
manufacture a Covid vaccine on a
global scale, it would need a
[417]
bigger partner. The company had
already partnered with Pfizer,
[420]
having worked with him since
2018, to develop an mRNA based
[424]
flu vaccine, which is currently
in clinical trials. And so
[427]
naturally BioNTech turn to them.
[429]
We approach Pfizer in early
February, which was very early
[435]
because no one really believed
that there was a pandemic. And
[439]
as everyone else, our Pfizer
colleagues did not really
[443]
believe that a pandemic vaccine
would be needed.
[447]
And the response to that point
from Pfizer was no. And I talked
[451]
with Pfizer CEO about this. And
he was saying essentially at
[454]
that point early on, he was
really focused on Pfizer's
[458]
operations in China, Pfizer's
people in China, and he wasn't
[463]
yet thinking about developing a
vaccine.
[466]
Undeterred, BioNTech initially
went at it alone, developing not
[469]
just one but for vaccine
candidates. The company started
[473]
preparing for phase one clinical
trials in Germany, which would
[476]
test the vaccine in humans. By
this time, others were starting
[480]
to catch on.
[481]
COVID-19 can be characterized as
a pandemic. Dow is now down more
[486]
than 1100 points as moments ago,
the who has formally declared
[491]
the Coronavirus, a global
pandemic.
[493]
And now the extreme new measures
in the US. Large events banned
[497]
in Washington State and San
Francisco. As U.S. cases rise
[500]
over 1000. Less
[502]
than a week after the pandemic
was declared Pfizer agreed to
[505]
work with BioNTech to help them
scale up their clinical trials
[508]
production and distribution.
[510]
We had our first patient in on
on April 23. It was the first
[515]
volunteer and in July, we
started phase three clinical
[520]
trial. This was already in
partnership with Pfizer, which
[524]
allowed us to move fast from the
early stage of clinical
[529]
development to the to the latest
stage of development.
[532]
So as they were starting phase
one they were designing and
[535]
figuring out phase two as they
were getting into phase two,
[537]
they were figuring out these
massive phase three clinical
[540]
trials that they managed to
start in the summer, and the FDA
[545]
and regulators globally were
working on being incredibly
[549]
flexible.
[550]
Over 43,000 participants were
enrolled in the company's phase
[553]
three trials, which measured how
many vaccinated participants
[556]
contracted Covid compared to the
unvaccinated placebo group.
[561]
Sahin and Tureci we're by no
means certain that the vaccine
[564]
would work at all.
[565]
We knew that vaccine is able to
activate the immune system, but
[569]
it didn't know whether the
immune system is able to control
[572]
the virus. So as a scientist, my
expectation was it would be
[577]
great if we have 70% efficacy.
But I was also aware that if the
[582]
immune system is not able to
control we might have just a
[585]
negative result and getting the
call on Sunday evening and
[591]
hearing that we have 95%
efficacy. This was
[595]
extraordinary, of course high
much higher than than we had
[599]
expected.
[600]
And it brought this just amazing
hope that we would be able to
[605]
start fighting back against this
virus. And I think everybody who
[609]
got that news felt like their
lives changed.
[614]
Over 1.75 billion doses of the
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have
[618]
been delivered worldwide. And
perhaps obviously BioNTech is
[622]
finally making money. With a
market cap of nearly 60 billion,
[625]
the company made over $4.5
billion in profit in the first
[629]
two quarters of 2021. As the
United States and European
[633]
Commission governments have
entered into massive contracts
[635]
to buy hundreds of millions of
doses. And BioNTech's stock has
[639]
seen a rise of over 500% since
January of 2020.
[643]
In the second quarter alone,
they brought in more than 5
[646]
billion euros in revenue. That
compares to just about 40
[649]
million that they took it in the
second quarter of last year. So
[652]
this has been a transformative
year for BioNTech.
[656]
In August, the Pfizer-b vaccine
became the first to gain full
[660]
FDA-approval, helping pave the
way for a return to normal life.
[664]
But there's still a long way to
go. Over half of the world
[667]
remains unvaccinated. And the
virus is mutating into new, more
[670]
infectious variants like the
Delta strain, which is ripping
[673]
through communities worldwide.
[676]
Our work on Covid is still a
large part of our activities in
[681]
the company, obviously, because
there is still a long path to go
[686]
until we have manufactured
sufficient supply to ensure that
[692]
all those who want to be
vaccinated and need to be
[694]
vaccinated get the vaccine.
[697]
In September, Pfizer submitted
data to the FDA demonstrating
[701]
that a booster given six months
after the second shot restores
[704]
immunity to 95%. Currently, the
FDA has authorized boosters of
[709]
the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for
certain vulnerable populations
[713]
such as those over 65.
[715]
My personal opinion is that we
can't control the pandemic. And
[720]
we can't control this virus, if
we don't enable that, that the
[726]
vast majority of the population
stays immune.
[729]
And then there's the issue of
kids. Currently, the
[732]
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the
only one authorized by the FDA
[736]
for use in children 12 and over
though the two companies have
[739]
requested emergency
authorization for ages five
[741]
through 11, after clinical
trials showed positive results
[744]
when kids were given 1/3 of the
normal dosage. But amidst their
[748]
ongoing Covid efforts, biontech
has still found the time to
[751]
advance its oncology work.
[754]
Even during the pandemic, we
have been able to initiate
[758]
multiple phase one clinical
trials which meant bringing new
[763]
concepts, not only mRNA
vaccines, but also other immune
[768]
therapies for the first time in
human testing in cancer
[773]
patients. And we have also
initiated advanced trials with
[778]
our cancer vaccines where we
compare against standard of care
[783]
treatments.
[783]
We are of course excited to get
the data and it could be as
[787]
exciting as COVID-19 efficacy
data.
[791]
Sahin and Tureci emphasize that
developing therapeutic cancer
[795]
vaccines which are administered
after a patient has already been
[798]
diagnosed, are bound to be a
much lengthier process and
[801]
developing the Covid vaccine.
That's because of the time it
[804]
takes to recruit cancer patients
for clinical trials and monitor
[807]
their condition over a number of
years. Still, though they say
[811]
there's much to be learned from
the rapid response to the
[813]
coronavirus pandemic.
[815]
Namely that it's important also
on the regulator side to have
[820]
sufficient resources in order to
enable very efficient work on
[827]
receivers for clinical trials
approvals of drug approvals
[832]
processes, which could be much
leaner and much faster.
[836]
The question is can be can we
use that model also for other
[840]
severe diseases, and I believe
we have to consider how to use
[845]
it. Because if you take for
example cancer in the in the
[850]
time between 2020 beginning 2020
and now more patients die with
[856]
this cancer patients died by by
COVID-19. So it is not a
[862]
pandemic, but it's an endemic.
[865]
Sahin and Tureci are modest
about their success. They ride
[869]
their bikes to work and don't
own a car or TV. And while their
[872]
company has grown from about
1300 employees at the beginning
[876]
of 2020 to around 2500 today,
it's still minuscule compared to
[881]
the likes of Pfizer, which
employs about 78,000 people
[884]
worldwide. But what the influx
of money and attention will
[887]
change is the level to which
BioNTech can invest in and
[891]
accelerate its other endeavors.
[893]
We have now the chance to invest
to accelerate our cancer
[896]
immunotherapies. We have the
chance to make it bolder. We
[900]
have the chance to go in other
fields.
[902]
It's also very valuable to
acquire technologies or assets
[908]
which we otherwise would need to
develop ourselves, which means
[912]
saving time and being faster to
bring medicines to patients.
[917]
In July, BioNTech acquired Kite
Pharma cell therapy platform as
[921]
well as its Maryland based
manufacturing facility. Kite is
[924]
also focused on developing
cancer immunotherapy products.
[928]
And Sahin said in a statement
that the acquisition will
[931]
accelerate BioNTech's
development of novel cell
[933]
therapies in the US. And the
company is expanding beyond the
[937]
oncology space too.
[939]
In the next years, we will
certainly see that we will enter
[943]
into clinical development for
infectious disease vaccines like
[947]
malaria, tuberculosis, HIV
continue to work in the cancer
[952]
field, start projects in the
autoimmune fear stat projects
[957]
for treatment of inflammatory
diseases, and have also projects
[960]
in the field of regenerative
medicine.
[963]
Since the pandemic began,
companies developing mRNA
[966]
technologies have raised
billions of dollars combined.
[970]
And according to roots analysis,
and India base biopharma
[973]
research firm, there are over
150 mRNA based vaccines and
[977]
therapies in development.
[979]
The Covid-19 pandemic provided
this incredible proof of concept
[984]
for messenger RNA. It showed it
really works as a vaccine
[988]
against this Coronavirus. Now
the question is, will this
[992]
really work as a vaccine against
flu? Will this really work as a
[998]
drug for cancer? Those questions
are not yet answered.
[1002]
For their part, Sahin and Tureci
say the Covid vaccine is just
[1006]
the beginning.
[1007]
I believe that mRNA as a
technology will be
[1012]
transformative for the biopharma
space mRNA can be used not only
[1017]
for vaccines for all sorts of
pharmaceuticals, and yet,
[1023]
biotech, we are actually already
doing it.
[1026]
I expect that in about 15 years,
about 30% of new products
[1031]
develop they'll be based on mRNA
therapies and that will not only
[1035]
include products which are
copying existing products or
[1038]
replacing them, but very
completely new type of medicines
[1042]
which are made possible only
because this technology is now
[1046]
available. And this is of course
exciting, to become part of this
[1050]
future and to drive the
development of new medicines
[1054]
this this this type of
technology.
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage