--- title: "Vaccine Makers Predict We Will Have Cancer Cure “Before 2030”" description: "The married couple who helped create Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine predict that the new vaccine they're developing will cure cancer within the decade." date: "2022-10-17" modified: "2022-10-17" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/vaccine-predict-cancer-vaccine-2030" categories: - "Cancer" - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" tags: - "biontech" - "cancer" - "cancer cure" - "mRNA" --- # Vaccine Makers Predict We Will Have Cancer Cure “Before 2030” ![The married couple who helped create Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine predict that the new vaccine they're developing will cure cancer within the decade.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* The married couple who helped develop Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine have issued an incredible prediction: they believe there will be a cancer cure in the form of a vaccine before the end of the decade. Professors Ozlem Tureci and Ugur Sahin — the husband-and-wife duo behind the BioNTech pharmaceutical startup that provided the mRNA juice for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccines — [told the *BBC*]() that their company is currently [developing a cancer vaccine]() that they believe will be a sea change in the treatment of the deadly disease. "Yes, we feel that a cure for cancer, or to changing cancer patients' lives, is in our grasp," Tureci told the *BBC*. The couple is incredibly confident in their approach, with Sahin, the husband, telling the broadcaster that successful cancer vaccines "will happen, definitely, before 2030." According to Tureci, it was research for mRNA-based and patient-specific cancer vaccines that led them to the spike protein discoveries that ultimately acted as a "tailwind" for current COVID vaccines. Now, research from coronavirus vaccines "gives back" to their cancer treatment research, Tureci argued, which is focused on tumorous cancers like melanoma and bowel cancer. The mRNA or messenger RNA in BioNTech's developing vaccines will target cancer cells as if they were on a "'wanted poster' of the enemy," she told the *BBC* reporter. In doing so, the mRNA will be able to distinguish cancer cells from normal ones and then kill them. When the host asked the pair if there's "still a chance" that the vaccines won't work, the wife deflected. "I don't think so," Tureci replied. "Everything we have learned about the immune system and about what we achieve with a cancer vaccine shows, in principle, the clear activity — we can induce those killer T-cells, we can direct them." "As scientists, we are always hesitant to say we will have a cure for cancer," she continued, adding that the pair nevertheless has "a number of breakthroughs" in the works that they're going to continue pursuing. This news is as exciting as it is ambitious — but given the couple's incredibly successful track record, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. **More mRNA:** *[First Woman Reportedly Cured of HIV]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()