Turkish-origin owners of BioNTech reveal how Pfizer rejected their jab
LONDON
Pfizer initially turned down the offer of developing a coronavirus vaccine because its executives thought the virus would be rapidly contained, according to a report by the U.K.-based daily Telegraph.
Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, Turkish-origin founders of BioNTech, were told “guys, this is not going to work” by the pharmaceutical giant as the virus was starting to sweep the globe in January 2020.
The mRNA technology, which has proved so crucial to the vaccine breakthroughs, was, at the time, also considered too experimental by Phil Dormitzer, Pfizer’s vice-president and chief scientific officer for viral vaccines.
“My working assumption was that it [COVID-19] would be controlled” like the SARS and MERS outbreaks, Dormitzer admitted.
The initial rejection, revealed in a new book, came just days after the couple decided to dedicate BionNTech to creating an mRNA-based COVID-19 jab, effectively gambling the business on something that had never been done before.
Their company is now worth $85 billion, yet Şahin and Türeci remain close to Pfizer and Dormitzer, or “Phil” as they know him.
Şahin had a detailed image in his mind of how the pandemic would unfold but also thought the Pfizer man’s assessment was “completely rational.”
“After the phone call with Phil, I just thought for a second and said, ‘We will call him again in a few weeks,’” Şahin told the daily.
The couple thought it was only a “matter of time” before the drug giant changed its mind. A deal was announced between the two companies a month later.
