Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman were jointly awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines against COVID-19.
Katalin Karikó is affiliated to the Szeged University, Szeged, Hungary and University of Pennsylvania, USA. Drew Weissman is affiliated to the Penn Institute for RNA Innovations, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
The ground-breaking discoveries made by two Nobel Laureates played a pivotal role in the rapid development of effective mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their findings revolutionized our comprehension of how mRNA interacts with the immune system, significantly contributing to the unprecedented speed of vaccine development during a major threat to human health.
Two of the swiftest and most efficacious COVID-19 vaccines were formulated using this innovative mRNA technology. Although the concept of utilizing mRNA for vaccination and delivering therapeutic proteins in vivo was introduced more than 30 years ago, numerous challenges needed to be surmounted to transform this idea into clinical reality.
Initial experiments revealed that in vitro transcribed mRNA triggered undesirable inflammatory responses and inefficient protein production in cells and tissues. A pivotal moment occurred with the discovery by Karikó and Weissman, demonstrating that mRNA, when produced with modified nucleoside bases, could evade innate immune recognition and enhance protein expression.
These breakthroughs, coupled with the development of efficient in vivo mRNA delivery systems, the stabilization of the SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen, and unprecedented investments, culminated in the approval of two highly successful mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in late 2020.
The contribution of Karikó and Weissman were instrumental in rendering the mRNA vaccine platform clinically viable precisely when it was most urgently needed, marking an extraordinary advancement in medicine and laying the groundwork for future applications of mRNA technology.
Sri Lanka was one of the Advance Market Commitment countries under the WHO-led COVAX facility that received the COVID-19 vaccines for 20% of its population (4.2 million doses of vaccines) free of charge. This included over 2.3 million doses of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna) which were developed, and emergency user listed in record time with the aid of the innovative mRNA in vivo technologies.
(Photo credit: Nobel Prize - YouTube)