Nobel prize awarded for ‘groundbreaking findings’ that made mRNA vaccines possible

October 02, 2023

1 min read

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Healio was unable to determine relevant financial disclosures by the time of publication.

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Key takeaways:

• Katalin Karikó, PhD, and Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, were honored with the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• Their research contributed to the unprecedented development of COVID-19 vaccines.

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó, PhD, and Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, for discoveries that were crucial in developing messenger RNA vaccines to combat the spread of COVID-19, according to a press release.

The Nobel Prize committee announced the honor on Monday in Sweden.

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó, PhD, and Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, for discoveries that were crucial in developing mRNA vaccines to combat the spread of COVID-19, according to a press release.

The prestigious award was given to the pair because of “their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system,” according to a statement from the committee. These findings assisted in the “unprecedented rate of vaccine development” during the pandemic — “one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.”

Karikó and Weissman, both professors at the University of Pennsylvania, published studies in 2005, 2008 and 2010 that “eliminated critical obstacles on the way to clinical applications of mRNA.”

“Through their fundamental discoveries of the importance of base modifications in mRNA, this year’s Nobel laureates critically contributed to this transformative development during one of the biggest health crises of our time,” according to the release.

Alongside the other vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, more than 13 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered around the world, saving the lives of millions and preventing severe disease in many more, as well as allowing society to return to relatively normal conditions, according to the release.

“The impressive flexibility and speed with which mRNA vaccines can be developed pave the way for using the new platform also for vaccines against other infectious diseases,” according to the release. “In the future, the technology may also be used to deliver therapeutic proteins and treat some cancer types.”

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