COVID-19: How Pfizer-BioNTech won the vaccine race

On a winter morning in a kitchen in Germany, a couple of researchers are sitting down for breakfast.

Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin, managers of biotech start-up BioNTech, agree: "We need to get the ball rolling" on research for a vaccine against a new virus that is rampant in China. 

Ugur Sahin has just read a scientific publication describing the rapid spread of this virus in Wuhan. "He concluded that there was a strong possibility that a pandemic could be imminent," says his wife, Türeci.

This is the starting point of an epic that will lead to the development of the first vaccine against COVID-19 to be licensed in the western world. A feat achieved in record time.

So on January 24, the couple decided that all the resources of their SME, which had so far been allocated to research on cancer immunotherapies, would now be devoted to developing a cure for this viral pneumonia of unknown origin. 

We have to move fast, the operation is called "Speed of Light".

"Since then (...) there hasn't been a day that we haven't worked on this project," says Türeci.

Four days later, on January 28, Germany confirmed on its territory the first known case of human-to-human transmission on European soil. 

Less than two weeks later, the World Health Organization (WHO) named the new disease COVID-19 for the first time.

"Mittelstand

Spring begins to shiver in Mainz, a picturesque city with half-timbered buildings and especially the headquarters of BioNTech, when the epidemic that started in China turns into a global health crisis.  

The outbreak of infections forces governments to close borders, schools, cultural and sports institutions, administrations. The world is put under a bell. 

Already the "Mittelstand", the network of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that makes the German economy so successful, is rolling up its sleeves to meet the challenge ahead.

Just a stone's throw from BioNTech's headquarters, a 130-year-old SME is accelerating its production lines.

Although little known, the glass specialist Schott is a major player in the pharmaceutical industry with its vials used by millions for clinical research on the virus. 

The "borosilicate" glass he has made his specialty is highly sought after for its ability to withstand extreme temperatures, ranging from -80 to 500 degrees. A property that will prove to be indispensable. The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius.

By the end of 2021, Schott expects to produce enough vials for two billion doses of vaccine.

COVID-19, the company is taking it all the way to its walls. A major production site in Mitterleich, Bavaria, found itself at the heart of the pandemic early on, when after a beer festival, the town became one of the first outbreaks of the new coronavirus.

And as a result of the closed borders, many workers from the Czech Republic "did not see their friends or families for weeks".

All over the world, the pandemic is grounding planes and turning the world's normally vibrant airports into dull, deserted areas. 

Pharmaceutical transport

But at the pharmaceutical center of the freight company Lufthansa Cargo located at Frankfurt airport, business is accelerating and stress is mounting. 

Europe's largest pharmaceutical transportation hub, which handled 120,000 tons of cargo last year, is preparing to move millions of doses of vaccine through the country. 

In total, the site has 12,000 square meters of air-conditioned space dedicated to this type of product. The necessary temperatures are obtained in special containers using dry ice blocks, CO2 in solid form at -78.9 degrees.

Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt Airport, is not the only company investing in the cold chain.

Arctic

Binder, another German SME unknown to the general public, is entering the scene in green Baden-Württemberg (south-west). 

Its know-how? Super-freezers" in which "it's colder than in the Arctic," according to the German media. In fact, the temperature in these devices can drop as low as -90°.

The Tuttlingen-based company, one of the market leaders, first provided the laboratories, then the logistics, and is now working with the German authorities to equip vaccination centers.

"It all started in August when we received requests from logistics companies (...) they said 'we need to equip our storage centers with freezers'," says Anne Lenze, communications manager.

Since then, "the demand has been such that we work 24 hours a day, we are recruiting and looking for employees," she emphasizes. 

On November 18, barely 10 months after deciding to embark on the adventure, BioNTech announced with its American partner Pfizer that its vaccine was 95% safe and effective. This level is similar to that of the American firm Moderna, with whom it is competing to develop the so-called Messenger RNA technique.

Stock markets are getting excited, and the world is regaining confidence.

Cup of tea

But in Mainz there is no question of giving in to euphoria. To celebrate this event, the Türeci-Sahin couple is having a cup of tea. In any case, "champagne is not our thing," jokes Mr. Sahin in an interview with AFP.  

Blowing on their beverage, these two middle-aged men, children of Turkish immigrants, "think about everything that has happened so far and what will now happen.

600 km away, in the German capital, retired firefighter Albrecht Broemme, a tough 66-year-old man with salt and pepper hair, is busy with... a box of Lego. 

In charge of supervising the six vaccination centers that Berlin wants to set up as part of a national campaign, he builds a mini vaccination station with a check-in counter and traffic lanes.

"I thought of a system, thinking (...) about the space needed so as not to create a "traffic jam,"" he says in front of the former Tegel airport, one of the places where Berliners will be injected with the vaccine.

Some 450 vaccination centers are set up throughout the country. The largest, located in Hamburg, will be able to perform up to 7,000 injections per day in the 64 booths provided for this purpose.

In both Hamburg and Berlin, every visitor will have to follow a circuit from identity verification to the actual vaccination. 

The injection will be preceded by a medical consultation and, at the end of the chain, a "waiting room" will be there to check that the entire operation has been carried out properly. 

"We imagine that all this will take an hour," says Albrecht Broemme.

On December 2, the United Kingdom became the first Western country to grant emergency licensure of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.

Other countries follow: the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore. Germany, hit hard by a second wave of contamination, is becoming impatient. 

It is pushing for the regulatory authority, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), to speed up its decision, which is expected by December 29 at the latest. 

On December 21, more than a week ahead of schedule, the EMA finally gave its green light. The European Union then announced that the vaccination campaign would begin on December 27.

In central Hamburg, the health authorities say they are ready, while BioNTech is organizing online training with doctors and nurses. The firm is answering more than a thousand questions from medical players. 

Armed police officers

The first trucks loaded with vaccine doses leave Pfizer's production facility in Belgium on Wednesday. 

They are on their way to 25 distribution centers designated by the German federal authorities, which will then transport them to the country's 294 districts, according to BioNTech. 

Throughout the journey, armed police officers will escort the convoys. Germany fears possible sabotage as the anti-vaccine movement and those who do not believe in the existence of the virus have become more widespread since the summer.

Initially, the vaccine should be injected into the arms of the most vulnerable people, those over 80 years of age.

Several nursing homes have been hard hit by the pandemic while the daily death toll remains high.

For Chancellor Angela Merkel, each injection represents a life saved. "When you look at the number of people who have died from this virus, you see how many lives the vaccine can save.

Because every day counts, the managers of a nursing home in Halberstadt, in the east, decided to start vaccinating on Saturday, reserving the honor for Edith Kwoizalla, a 101-year-old resident, to be the first to receive the vaccine.

The official launch of the campaign is scheduled for Sunday throughout the country, and in other states of the European Union.

And at their breakfast table, Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin may enjoy a new cup of tea.