The Vaccine

When the world stopped, all hopes rested on finding a vaccine. An unlikely team answered the call.

Before Covid-19 was even given its name, a select group of scientists in Germany, assembled by married couple and decades-long research partners Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, began building 20 potential vaccines.

As the deadly disease spread from country to country, what followed was a desperate race against time to conduct rigorous tests and clinical trials, whilst navigating political interference and seeking the support of the pharmaceutical industry.

Shedding a light on the science behind the breakthrough, The Vaccine tells the story of the trailblazers who led the fightback against Covid-19, whose discoveries could now help the world tackle cancer, along with many other pervasive diseases. It draws back the curtain on one of the most important medical achievements of our age, containing contributions from the fascinating couple themselves, as well as more than 60 scientists, politicians, public health officials, and BioNTech staff.

More suspenseful than a novel, this is a real-life story of an extraordinary race against time to save the world.

“'I have now read the book by Joe Miller about the development of the vaccine at Biontech. Ugur sahin had already understood the dimension of the pandemic on 24 January. I wasn't that quick'”

'I have now read the book by Joe Miller about the development of the vaccine at Biontech. Uğur Şahin had already understood the dimension of the pandemic on 24 January. I wasn't that quick' -- Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
'Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin are rapidly becoming the most celebrated marriage in science since Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radioactivity' The Times
'They are the symbol of a remarkable scientific and business success story' Financial Times (FT People of the Year)
'The story of their quest to use a novel scientific method to defeat that disease, as well as cancer and others, would suffice to make them heroes of our time' Bloomberg

Joe Miller is the Financial Times's Frankfurt correspondent who covered BioNTech's COVID-19 project in real time, giving him considerable knowledge and expertise on the subject. The book also has considerable contributions from Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci themselves, giving rare first-person accounts. It contains contributions from more than 50 scientists, politicians, public health officials, and BioNTech staff.

Dr. Ugur Sahin and lem Tureci are the husband-and-wife team that cofounded BioNTech, developers of the world's first COVID-19 vaccine. The children of Turkish migrant workers in Germany, they trained as medical doctors and earned doctorates in molecular biology and immunotherapy. They have done extensive work in the field of translational oncology and written hundreds of scientific papers and patents. Sahin and Tureci received the 2022 Paul Ehrlich Prize for their contributions to research into mRNA technology.

How do you develop a life-saving drug when every second counts and one mistake could be catastrophic? When the world stopped, all hopes rested on finding a vaccine. One team answered the call and were ready to act. But how do you develop a life-saving drug when every second counts and one mistake could be catastrophic? Married couple and decades-long research partners Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci did just that within weeks of the pandemic breaking out. From convincing Big Pharma to support their ambitious project, to navigating political interference from the Trump administration and the European Union, the road to producing the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was by no means smooth. But these cutting-edge innovators overcame every obstacle to provide more than two billion doses of the life-saving drug to countries all around the world in record time. The Vaccine draws back the curtain on one of the most important medical breakthroughs of our age, containing contributions from the fascinating couple themselves, as well as more than 50 scientists, politicians, public health officials, and BioNTech staff. Shedding a light on the science behind the breakthrough, The Vaccine tells the story of the trailblazers to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude. More suspenseful than a novel, this is a real-life story of an extraordinary race against time to save the world.

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