Berlin: BioNTech, the German company that developed a coronavirus vaccine with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, was awarded Germany’s Future Prize on Wednesday. The award is one of Germany’s biggest scientific honours and is given annually to an individual or group that has made a breakthrough in the fields of technology, engineering or the natural sciences, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded the prize to the team led by the company’s founding couple, Ozlem Tureci and Ugur Sahin, at a gala ceremony in Berlin.
The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine was the first to be approved for use in the United States and European Union. The two-dose vaccine regimen has been going into arms around the world for nearly a year now.
It is hoped that the groundbreaking mRNA technology used in the jab can also be put towards other medical conditions, such as cancer treatments.
The prerequisite for the Future Prize is that the innovation must be developed to go on the market.
The BioNTech team will receive 250,000 euros (283,000 dollars) as part of the award.
There were two other nominees for this year’s prize. One was a team that worked to improve CT scans so that doctors can better see inside human bodies. The other was a group of researchers whose project focused on sustainably produced alternatives to rubber.
BioNTech was once a relatively unknown biotechnology firm specializing in nascent mRNA technology based in the German city of Mainz.
Now it is a household name in Germany and has received several honours, including the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
