BioNTech, the first European company to release vaccine trial results, is one of several companies using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology to develop a vaccine — a process that is faster than traditional methods.Shares in BioNTech, which is listed on the Nasdaq in New York, rose by almost 8 per cent on news of the trial results, while Pfizer’s share price rose by a similar percentage.“If you don’t know the level required to control this virus, if you don’t know the power of the enemy, you don’t want the response to be too weak,” he said.In May, Moderna of the US, a rival mRNA specialist, released initial findings of its vaccine trial, which showed that participants developed similar levels of immunity to recovered coronavirus patients, with only minor side effects.Rather than using pathogens to induce an immune response, mRNA vaccines use genetic material that carries instructions for cells to produce proteins that fight disease.
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