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Uğur Şahin may establish cancer research center in Turkey

Uğur Şahin may establish cancer research center in Turkey

Uğur Şahin, who shot to fame by developing the Pfizer-BioNtech coronavirus vaccine with his wife Özlem Türeci, will likely invest in his native Turkey, a minister announced on Wednesday.

Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank said Şahin was discussing with them the establishment of a cancer research center in the country. “We will be pleased to host him in Turkey,” the minister told Anadolu Agency (AA).

Şahin, founder of Germany-based BioNtech, had earlier announced that his company was in talks with the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for joint research and development efforts. Varank said in a previous statement that the company was looking to boost its production capacity by setting up a new facility for research and development that would focus on cancer studies. Şahin himself expressed interest in setting up a BioNtech branch in Turkey.

The messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine developed by BioNtech brought Şahin and his wife Türeci into the spotlight amid the coronavirus pandemic. Children of Turkish immigrants to Germany, the couple founded their firm in 2008. They are prominent figures in the scientific community in cancer research, and their self-declared goal is “revolutionizing” cancer medicine. Şahin is a specialist in molecular medicine and immunology.