Covid-19: A simple German Family behind The Vaccine

This “simple family” were not known before that big achievement but now the whole world are claiming their names.

I’m calling them simple because of the way their life is. Prof. Ugur Sahin does go to his work on his bike despite their big fortune.

After their big achievement on the Covid-19 vaccine, they celebrated with coffee.

This unbelievable family has a big firm, BioNTech that discovered, with American firm Pfizer, the covid-19 vaccine.

BioNTech together with Pfizer are say that  their vaccine can protect against  covid-19 by 90% and by the end of this year, it will be given to people.

It’s one among 11 vaccines in their third phase that are being tried around the world.

Normally, vaccines take about 7 or 8 years to be confirmed as one but for covid-19 it might not even take a year to confirm the vaccine.

BioNTech was found in 2008 in Mainz, by German  Prof. Sahin and Dr Özlem Türeci.

Ugur Sahin and his wife are of Turkish  decent  living in Germany. Sahin was born in Turkey then immigrated to Germany with his mother when he was 4. His father was already in Germany.

His wife, Dr Özlem Türeci, was born in Germany to a Turkish family.

Ugur’s father was employed by Ford in Cologne Germany.

Before covid-19, BioNTech was a research firm about cancer and cancer medicines according to each person. Till now, none of their medicine were approved.

Before covid-19, again, BioNTech at $4.6 billions on the American capital market but now it is on $21 billions.

Ugur now, his share in BioNTech is 18% and he is among 10 richest people in the whole Germany.