Speedy work on Covid gives the vaccine industry a shot in the arm

Pfizer was first with the news, but biotech firms, governments, banks and NGOs are all involved in the search for a jab to prevent coronavirus infection

The leading candidate to become the world's first Covid-19 vaccine, developed by the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech, had its genesis in late January 2020. Uur ahin, chief executive of the Mainz-based biotech, read about coronavirus in the Lancet and worried that the outbreak could grow into a pandemic.

ahin summoned colleagues to tell them that the company would shift its focus from cancer treatments to finding a vaccine for the deadly virus. It would use a method based on mRNA, whereby a stretch of genetic material from the coronavirus is injected into the body, resulting in human cells producing its so-called spike protein. This in turn triggers an immune response. Pfizer stepped in to help with development and distribution costs.

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