Kariko, BioNTech leadership to receive Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize
Hungarian-born biochemist Katalin Kariko and the founder-directors of BioNTech, physicians Ozlem Tureci and Ugur Sahin, will receive the most prestigious award in medical science in Germany, the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, the board of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation said on Tuesday.
BioNTech and its scientific team led by Kariko are acclaimed for the research and development of mRNA-based vaccines.
The prize comes with a 120,000 euro reward.
In a statement, the foundation said BioNTech “established a technology platform that is likely to initiate a paradigm shift in some areas of medicine”. “The spectacularly rapid development of a highly effective vaccine against the coronavirus disease COVID-19, which has proven to play a decisive role in the worldwide containment of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, has been an outstanding success,” the statement said.
