Drew Weissman

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Drew Weissman

M.D., Ph.D.
Drew Weissman.png
EducationBrandeis University (B.A., M.A.)
Boston University (M.D., Ph.D.)
Organization
Known formodified mRNA technologies used in COVID-19 vaccines
TitleProfessor of medicine

Drew Weissman is a physician-scientist best known for his contributions to RNA biology. His work helped enable development of effective mRNA vaccines, the best known of which are those for COVID-19 produced by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna.[1] Weissman is a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Education and training[]

Weissman received his B.A. and M.A. from Brandeis University in 1981, where he majored in biochemistry and enzymology and he worked in the lab of Gerald Fasman.[2] He performed his graduate work at Boston University in immunology and microbiology where he received his M.D. and Ph.D in 1987.[3] Afterward, Weissman did a residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, followed by a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), under the supervision of Anthony Fauci, the current director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.[4]

Career[]

In 1997, Weissman moved to the University of Pennsylvania to start his laboratory in order to study RNA and innate immune system biology. It was at the university that he and Katalin Karikó discovered, patented, and published the modifications to RNA required to make it viable as a therapy.[5] In 2006, he and Karikó co-founded RNARx. Their objective was to develop novel RNA therapies. Weissman is a professor of medicine at the university and he is a member of the American Federation for Clinical Research, The Association of American Physicians, and The American Association of Immunologists.[6] A research partnership between Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research, and Katalin Karikó, PhD, an adjunct professor of Neurosurgery at Penn and a senior vice president at BioNTech, dating back two decades led to the development of modified mRNA technology that has been licensed as a key foundational component of the highly effective Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine being deployed worldwide. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first to receive FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in December 2020 for those 16 years of age or older, the age group for which the full vaccine approval applies. In May 2021, the EUA was expanded to include adolescents ages 12 to 15 and, in August, it was amended again to allow for a third dose for certain people who are immunocompromised. The vaccine remains available under EUA for these groups. Moderna Therapeutics, which was granted EUA for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in December, also uses the same modified mRNA technology created at Penn Medicine. [7]

Scientific contributions[]

Weissman, an immunologist studying vaccines, met colleague and collaborator Katalin Karikó at a photocopy machine at the University of Pennsylvania, where they sympathized about the lack of funding for RNA research. At the time, Karikó had been trying RNA therapy on cerebral diseases and strokes.[8] Weissman began collaborating with Karikó, who then switched her focus to the application of RNA technology to vaccines. The main obstacle they faced was that the RNA was causing unwanted immune and inflammatory reactions as adverse responses. In 2005, they published a landmark study that used synthetic nucleosides to modify the RNA to prevent its degradation by the body.[9] This breakthrough laid the groundwork for the use of RNA therapeutics, and eventually, was licensed by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna for development of their COVID-19 vaccines.[10]

Weissman also has been collaborating with scientists in Chulalongkorn University, Thailand to develop and provide COVID-19 vaccines for the country and neighboring low-income countries that may not have immediate access to the vaccine.[1]

Both Weissman and Karikó were awarded the 2020 Rosenstiel Award.[11] In 2021, he was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award in the category "Scientific Research".[12] Also in 2021 he received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize[13] and the Albany Medical Center Prize.[14]

It has been suggested that Weissman and Karikó be awarded the Nobel Prize for their discoveries.[15]

Patents[]

Weissman is the inventor on many patents, including US8278036B2 [16] and US8748089B2,[17] which detail the modifications required to make RNA suitable for vaccines and other therapies. Later, these patents were licensed to Gary Dahl, founder and CEO of Cellscript, who subsequently licensed the technology to Moderna and BioNTech to ultimately use in their COVID-19 vaccines.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "This Philly Scientist's Technology Helped Make the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Possible". November 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "The Brandeis alum whose research may lead to a COVID-19 vaccine". BrandeisNOW. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  3. ^ "Drew Weissman | Faculty | About Us | Perelman School of Medicine | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania". www.med.upenn.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  4. ^ Johnson, Carolyn Y. "A gamble pays off in 'spectacular success': How the leading coronavirus vaccines made it to the finish line". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  5. ^ "This scientist paved way for new Pfizer vaccine | [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCf_oTBXpvk MRNA research] opens up new possibilities". texarkanagazette.com. Retrieved February 12, 2021. External link in |title= (help)
  6. ^ "Drew Weissman, MD, PhD profile | PennMedicine.org". www.pennmedicine.org. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  7. ^ https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-covid-19-vaccine
  8. ^ "Drew Weissman, l'architecte des vaccins contre le Covid-19". LEFIGARO (in French). Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  9. ^ Karikó, Katalin; Buckstein, Michael; Ni, Houping; Weissman, Drew (August 2005). "Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA". Immunity. 23 (2): 165–175. doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2005.06.008. ISSN 1074-7613. PMID 16111635.
  10. ^ Board, Editorial. "Opinion | The record turnaround for covid-19 vaccines has years of extraordinary science to thank". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  11. ^ "Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research". www.brandeis.edu. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  12. ^ Princess of Asturias Award 2021
  13. ^ Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize 2021
  14. ^ Albany Medical Center Prize 2021
  15. ^ "The story of mRNA: From a loose idea to a tool that may help curb Covid". STAT. November 10, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  16. ^ "Espacenet – search results". worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  17. ^ "Espacenet – search results". worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  18. ^ Dolgin, Elie (June 4, 2015). "Business: The billion-dollar biotech". Nature News. 522 (7554): 26–28. Bibcode:2015Natur.522...26D. doi:10.1038/522026a. PMID 26040878. S2CID 4450181.
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