The Pfizer – BionTech Alliance

A lot was made about this week’s announcement that Pfizer’s initial results of COVID vaccine testing showed a 90% protection against transmission (albeit on a small scale). This announcement sparked a massive rally on Wall Street and optimism world wide.

In Greece and Cypriot media, much was celebrated about the identity of Pfizer’s CEO, Dr. Albert Bourla. Dr. Bourla is a Greek national who holds a PhD in Reproductive Biotechnology from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki.

What was not as extensively reported was the existence of Pfizer’s research partner in the COVID vaccine trials. This is a German company called BioNTech, which actually developed the vaccine, and is testing it in collaboration with Pfizer for a global roll-out.

BioNTech was founded and led by a German couple of Turkish origins, comprising Professor Ugur Sahin and Dr. Ozlem Tureci, as well as Austrian oncologist Christian Huber. They have an equally impressive career history.

So, we have a situation where Greeks and Turks (and many other nationalities) are collaborating to save the world from coronavirus.

I can only hope this example will be emulated in many other domains. There is no reason it should not be.

Photo (c) The New York Times