The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023 awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman#
Katalin Karikó, member of the Biochemistry & molecular biology section of Academia Europaea since 2020, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023
together with Drew Weissman "for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19".
"The discoveries by the two Nobel Laureates were critical for developing effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic that began in early 2020. Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times." (The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet)
Professor Ray Dixon, the Chair of the Biochemistry & molecular biology section writes:
Professor Karikó, a member of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology section of the Academy, receives the Prize jointly with Professor Drew Weissman “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.”
Professor Karikó has devoted her career towards the establishment of mRNA-based gene therapy. Although mRNA itself is immunogenic and causes inflammation, Professor Karikó, together with Professor Weissman, discovered that specific nucleoside modifications in mRNA both reduced the inflammatory response and increased production of protein antigens in cells. These discoveries paved the way towards clinical applications of mRNA and ultimately, to the successful deployment of m-RNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.
Professor Karikó is currently conducting research at the University of Szeged, Hungary and is Adjunct Professor at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania."
Academia Europaea congratulates Prof. Karikó to this outstanding distinction!#
About Katalin Karikó#
Katalin Karikó is Senior Vice President at BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals from 2013. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, where she worked for 24 years. She received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from University of Szeged, Hungary, in 1982. For four decades, her research has been focusing on RNA-mediated mechanisms with the ultimate goal of developing in vitro-transcribed mRNA for protein therapy. She investigated RNA-mediated immune activation and co-discovered that nucleoside modifications suppress immunogenicity of RNA, which widened the therapeutic potentials of mRNA. She is co-inventor on mRNA-related patents for application of non-immunogenic, nucleoside-modified RNA. She co-founded and from 2006-2013 served as CEO of RNARx, a company dedicated to develop nucleoside-modified mRNA for therapy.
She is a founding member of the scientific planning committee for the International mRNA Health Conference, an annual non-profit event started in 2013. In 2019 she served as guest editor of the Molecular Therapy special issue on mRNA Therapy. Her patent on nucleoside-modified uridines is used to create the anti-SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna/NIH. She has 10 patents granted by US and 3 published patents. She is mother of 2-time Olympic and 5-time World Champion rower Susan Francia.
Announcement
of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by the Nobel assemblyNobel Prize committee press release
Katalin Karikó's first reaction
, telephone interview with Adam SmithWatch an interview
with Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman on the occassion of award of 2022 NOVO NORDISK Prize.
