Coronavirus vaccine manufacturers Pfizer / BioNTech are “turning every stone” around to increase production capacity, while Europe continues to suffer from a shortage of vaccine supplies.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, BioNTech’s co-founder and medical director, Özlem Türeci, said the company is “continually reevaluating how the goal we have already set can even be exceeded”.
Despite certain limitations, such as the fact that “they cannot train people very quickly”, the company is focusing on finding partners “who can complement the parts of this rather large network” of vaccine supply.
The company also keeps busy with the continuing need to test the robustness of its vaccine against new variants of the virus.
Based on his analysis, the current vaccine was found to be effective against the variant first detected in the UK and the variant first detected in South Africa, with Türeci emphasizing that the company’s top priority is to determine “which variant is real concern “
Many resources are directed to be “prepared for tomorrow, should this variant of concern occur: the processes with which we can adapt to a new variant”, added Türeci.
The company uses its “fast and adaptable” mRNA platform to replace the old sequence with the new variant, according to Türeci. Clinical tests are also being implemented in which the company previously discusses the change with the regulators.
Although the emerging variants are something that BioNTech must take “seriously”, Türeci told CNN that “there is no reason to be afraid today”.
Türeci also spoke about how a “balanced gender team is one of the key success factors” in BioNTech’s work, in particular increasing the company’s problem-solving capabilities.
“As scientists, we are used to it – mainly because we always work with technological innovation – we are used to solving problems and unknowns in real time. And that was a force that helped us along that path. ”
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has attracted praise worldwide for its high effectiveness, with a peer-reviewed study in Israel showing a 94% effectiveness rate in preventing asymptomatic Covid-19.
Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that real evidence from the Israeli Ministry of Health shows that two weeks after the second dose of the vaccine, its effectiveness was at least 97% in preventing symptomatic diseases, hospitalizations and death. The analysis also found that the vaccine’s effectiveness was 94% in preventing asymptomatic Covid-19, where infections show no symptoms
“When we started our development last year in January, our goal was to make a difference for people around the world and help end this pandemic,” said Dr. Ugur Sahin, co-founder and CEO of BioNTech, in the announcement . “One year after the WHO declared a pandemic, we now see that we are on the right track to achieve our goals.”
See the exclusive CNN interview: