The experts behind the BioNTech coronavirus jab have developed another vaccine which they claim cures multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice. 

The new MS vaccine works in a similar way to the coronavirus vaccine, manufactured in conjunction with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer

A piece of genetic material known as mRNA is inserted into a person’s arm and forces the body’s own cells to produce a protein that confers immunity.

In the case of the coronavirus vaccine, this protein mimics the virus’s protruding spike, kickstarting the immune system to start making antibodies. 

If a person later contracts the coronavirus, the immune system rapidly creates antibodies again and fights the infection before it can take hold or spread. 

In the case of the MS vaccine, the mRNA technology stops the body’s own immune system from attacking neurons in the brain and spinal cord which prevents the eventual loss of bodily function. 

Clinical trials on mice revealed the jab cured the condition, stopped disease progression and restored some motor skills which had already been lost. 

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Ugur Sahin (pictured with wife and fellow board member Ozlem Tuereci), CEO and founder of BioNTech has seen his personal fortune increase by some $4bn this year

Ugur Sahin (pictured with wife and fellow board member Ozlem Tuereci), CEO and founder of BioNTech has seen his personal fortune increase by some $4bn this year

Ugur Sahin (pictured with wife and fellow board member Ozlem Tuereci), CEO and founder of BioNTech has seen his personal fortune increase by some $4bn this year

Clinical trials on mice revealed the MS jab cured the condition, stopped disease progression and restores some motor skills which had already been lost (stock)

Clinical trials on mice revealed the MS jab cured the condition, stopped disease progression and restores some motor skills which had already been lost (stock)

Clinical trials on mice revealed the MS jab cured the condition, stopped disease progression and restores some motor skills which had already been lost (stock)

The BioNtech coronavirus jab is 95 per cent effective and was the first mRNA vaccine to ever receive approval for human use outside of clinical trials. 

It was approved by the MHRA on December 2, given to the first UK patient on December 8 and is now being administered to thousands every day.

Its approval has been hailed as a watershed moment in immunology and experts are hopeful the technology can eradicate more diseases. 

mRNA is genetic material which is naturally found in the human body. 

It is used by human cells to carry messages and give instructions. DNA’s double-helix is split in half, there is a molecular substitution, and it is then sent out of the nucleus and into the cellular cytoplasm to relay the message. 

Another part of the cell then reads its genetic sequence — the message — and goes about doing as it is told, which often means making a specific protein. 

After providing the blueprint, the mRNA molecule is then destroyed by another part of the cell.  

This technology has been in development for decades but has only now reached a point where it is viable for use as a vaccine.

Pictured, Margaret Keenan, 90, became the first patient in the United Kingdom to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at University Hospital, Coventry, administered by nurse May Parsons, at the start of the largest ever immunisation programme in the UK's history

Pictured, Margaret Keenan, 90, became the first patient in the United Kingdom to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at University Hospital, Coventry, administered by nurse May Parsons, at the start of the largest ever immunisation programme in the UK's history

Pictured, Margaret Keenan, 90, became the first patient in the United Kingdom to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at University Hospital, Coventry, administered by nurse May Parsons, at the start of the largest ever immunisation programme in the UK’s history

In a wonderful twist, the second person to get the Pfizer coronavirus jab in the UK on December 8 was William Shakespeare from Warwickshire (pictured)

In a wonderful twist, the second person to get the Pfizer coronavirus jab in the UK on December 8 was William Shakespeare from Warwickshire (pictured)

In a wonderful twist, the second person to get the Pfizer coronavirus jab in the UK on December 8 was William Shakespeare from Warwickshire (pictured) 

Inventor of Biontech jab adds $4bn to his fortune 

The inventor of the BioNTech jab has added $4 billion to his personal fortune, while his investors have made double that as countries continue to scramble to inoculate populations from coronavirus.

Ugur Sahin, CEO and founder of the German biotech firm that has teamed up with Pfizer on its vaccine, has seen share prices soar over the past year.

With $5.24bn to his name, he is now the 478th richest person on the planet, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.

High-profile BioNTech investors Thomas and Andreas Strungmann have profited even further over the last 12 months, both adding $8bn to their net worths to reach a total of more than $12bn.

Share prices have also risen in Pfizer as well as the makers of other Covid vaccines, AstraZeneca and Moderna.

While their respective CEOs haven’t made the Billionaire’s Index, Brazil’s richest man, Jorge Paulo Lemann, is financing AstraZeneca’s trials in the country, and has seen his wealth rise $176m this year.

Meanwhile, Moderna’s rise has seen the fortunes of professors Tim Springer from Harvard, and Robert Langer from MIT increase substantially as well, making $2bn and $1.5bn in gains.

Share prices have soared in BioNTech over the last year after it teamed up with Pfizer to develop a coronavirus vaccine

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US-firm Moderna also made a mRNA vaccine for coronavirus, which last week received MHRA approval.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca jab does not use mRNA and instead uses a technique which has been around for decades, is cheaper to produce, and easier to transport. It received MHRA approval for emergency use in the UK in December. 

Dr Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech, applied mRNA technology to multiple sclerosis.

The disease is a result of the body’s own immune system attacking a protective layer that surrounds neurons, called the myelin sheath, in the brain and spinal cord. 

The fatty substance allows for electric pulses to be passed through the cells and without it messages from the brain fail to reach the muscles they are sent to. 

As a result of this interruption the patient progressively loses more function of their own body before the condition eventually stops them from being able to breathe. 

Current treatments work by dampening the person’s immune system to delay and halt the degradation of the myelin sheath, but this leaves the person vulnerable to infections as they are unable to fight off any viruses or bacteria. 

Dr Sahin’s theory was that a vaccine could introduce genetic information which instructed the immune system of MS sufferers to not attack the proteins that lead to myelin sheath deterioration.  

The genetic material is fragile and must be protected inside a durable case, made of lipids, during injection to ensure it reaches cells before it breaks down.  The Covid-19 vaccine also has this protective casing. 

Dr Sahin’s team gave the vaccine as an injection to mice that had autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal equivalent for human MS.

‘The vaccine blocked all clinical signs of MS in mice, while control animals experienced the typical symptoms of the disease,’ BioNTech said in a statement

Some mice already had symptoms of MS before they received the vaccine, for example paralysis of the tail, and in these specimens the vaccine not only prevented further disease progression but also reversed paralysis, restoring motor functions. 

The full findings have been published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Science.  

Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tuerci: The husband and wife ‘dream team’ behind the coronavirus vaccine 

Physicians Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci are the husband and wife ‘dream team’ behind the breakthrough Covid-19 vaccine that will soon be rolled out across the UK.

The UK is the first country in the world to approve the vaccine, which is shown to be 95% effective and works in all age groups.

BioNTech chief executive Prof Sahin worked alongside his wife and the firm’s chief medical officer, Dr Tureci, to develop the jab.

BioNTech began preparing against the coronavirus in January after Prof Sahin read an article in a medical journal that left him convinced the virus would spread into a full-blown pandemic.

BioNTech, founded just 12 years ago, has been working alongside 171-year-old titan of the pharmaceutical industry, Pfizer.

Prof Sahin came to Germany from Turkey when he was four years old. He graduated as a doctor from the University of Cologne in 1990.

Dr Tureci also of Turkish heritage, earned her MD at the Saarland University Faculty of Medicine in Homburg, Germany, and is now also the president of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Bonded by a shared love of medical research and oncology, the couple founded BioNTech in 2008, with the aim of pursuing a broader range of cancer immunotherapy tools.

On their wedding day in 2002, according to reports, the pair only briefly left their work at the lab to attend the registry office.

While the couple are said to be worth billions, Prof Sahin still reportedly cycles to work.

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This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

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