Cancer vaccine could be available before 2030, hopes BionTech

Vaccines targeting cancer could be available before the end of the decade, according to scientists at BionTech, the German firm that partnered with Pfizer to manufacture a revolutionary mRNA Covid vaccine.

Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, the husband and wife who co-founded BioNTech, said they had made breakthroughs that fueled their optimism for cancer vaccines in the coming years, reports Guardian.

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Prof Türeci described how the mRNA technology at the heart of BioNTech's Covid vaccine could be repurposed to attack cancer cells.

Asked when cancer vaccines based on mRNA might be ready to use in patients, Prof Sahin said it could be as early as "before 2030".

BioNTech was working on mRNA cancer vaccines before the pandemic struck. The firm then pivoted to produce Covid vaccines in the face of the global emergency. It has now has several cancer vaccines in clinical trials. Türeci said the development and success of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which is similar to the Moderna Covid shot, "gives back to our cancer work".