CANCER

My wife and I are both scientists. We started BioNTech because we believed mRNA could cure cancer. COVID was not the plan. But the science was ready.

The COVID vaccine was proof of concept. The real mission is cancer. If mRNA can train your immune system to fight a virus, it can train it to fight a tumor.

The vaccine was chapter one. Cancer is chapter two. If mRNA can teach your immune system to fight a virus, it can teach it to fight a tumor. That's where the real revolution is.

My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. The oncologist had almost no data to personalize her treatment. In 2015. I thought: this is insane. We have more data on what movies people watch than on how to treat their cancer.

AI can analyze medical records and identify cancer risk faster than any doctor. Not to replace doctors — to help them.

If we can identify cancer risk before symptoms appear, we can save millions of lives.

Every cancer tumor has a unique genetic signature. Sequencing that signature is how we personalize treatment.

On behalf of the 600 companies that have already pledged, I would like to sincerely thank the jury for elevating Working with Cancer to another level of global awareness.