HOUSTON — The team that used advanced technology to create the revolutionary coronavirus vaccine says they will now use the same tech to create a cancer vaccine.
Let’s connect the dots.
mRNA tech prompts immune response
Scientists at the German company BioNTech, working with Pfizer, used messenger RNA technology to create a widely used COVID-19 vaccine.
The idea behind mRNA is not new.
It basically trains the body’s immune system to fight disease. But this was the first time an mRNA vaccine or drug has ever been approved for use. Both Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines, which use the revolutionary tech, have proven effective.
BioNTech developed mRNA vaccine
When coronavirus started spreading worldwide BioNTech was already working on an mRNA vaccine, and they quickly pivoted to use what they had learned to create a weapon against COVID-19.
That original vaccine they were working on? It was for cancer.
Now that its COVID-19 vaccine has been successful the company’s profile and value has raised, giving them much needed funds to help develop that cancer vaccine.
Cancer vaccines under development
BioNTech’s founder says they have several different cancer vaccines in development, and they could be done in a couple years. They use the same idea as the COVID-19 vaccine, using mRNA to tell the body’s immune system to fight a specific disease, in this case, a tumor.
Now that we know the technology works to stop one killer it may be used to stop many more.