Drew Weissman

Last updated

Drew Weissman
Drew Weissman Life Science medalist.jpg
Weissman in 2022
Born (1959-09-07) September 7, 1959 (age 64)
Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Education
Known forModified mRNA technologies used in COVID-19 vaccines
Awards
Scientific career
Institutions University of Pennsylvania
Thesis Regulation of B Lymphocytes with Reagents That Cross-Link Surface Immunoglobulin  (1987)
Doctoral advisor Ann Marshak-Rothstein

Drew Weissman (born September 7, 1959) is an American physician and immunologist known for his contributions to RNA biology. Weissman is the inaugural Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research, director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation, and professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).

Contents

Weissman's work underlies the development of mRNA vaccines, the best known of which are those for COVID-19 produced by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. [1] With biochemist Katalin Karikó, Weissman received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023 "for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19". [2] [3] [4] Weissman has been a recipient and co-recipient of numerous awards, also including the prestigious Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award. In 2022, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine [5] and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. [6]

Early life and education

Weissman was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, on September 7, 1959, [7] to Hal and Adele Weissman. [8] Hal is Jewish and Adele is Italian. [9] [10] While his mother did not convert to Judaism, he grew up celebrating all the Jewish holidays. [11] He grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts [12] and attended Lexington High School, graduating in 1977. [13]

Weissman received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Brandeis University in 1981, where he majored in biochemistry and enzymology and he worked in the lab of Gerald Fasman. [14] He performed his graduate work in immunology and microbiology to receive his M.D. and Ph.D. in 1987 at Boston University. [15] 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, then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. [16]

Career

Weissman with Katalin Kariko in 2022 Drew Weissman and Katalin Kariko Life Science Medalists.jpg
Weissman with Katalin Karikó in 2022

In 1997, Weissman moved to the University of Pennsylvania to start his laboratory in order to study RNA and innate immune system biology. He is now the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research at the university. [17]

At the university, Weissman, an immunologist studying vaccines, met his future colleague and collaborator Katalin Karikó at a photocopier, [18] 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. [19] Immunologist Weissman began collaborating with biochemist Karikó, who switched her focus to the application of RNA technology to vaccines. [20] Weissman’s support was critical in helping Karikó to continue and extend her research. Slowly they began to move the technology forward, solving problems one at a time. On the difficulty of gaining funding and recognition for their work, Weissman has commented "We had to fight the entire way." [21]

One of the major scientific obstacles they faced was that the RNA caused unwanted immune and inflammatory reactions as adverse side effects. Beginning in 2005, they published several landmark studies that used synthetic nucleosides to modify the RNA to prevent its degradation by the body. [22] [23] This breakthrough laid the groundwork for the use of RNA therapeutics, though the study received little attention at the time. [24]

Weissman and Karikó overcame another major obstacle by developing a delivery technique to package the mRNA in lipid nanoparticles, a novel pharmaceutical drug delivery system for mRNA that protects the fragile molecule until it can reach the desired area of the body. [25] They demonstrated the effectiveness of the delivery system in animals. [26]

In 2006, Weissman and Karikó co-founded RNARx. Their objective was to develop novel RNA therapies. In 2020 their modified RNA technology became the key foundational component of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which were deployed worldwide against the COVID-19 pandemic. [27]

Weissman has been collaborating with scientists at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, most recently to develop and provide COVID-19 vaccines for the country and neighboring low and middle income countries that may not have immediate access to the vaccine. [1] [28] [29]

Weissman's laboratory continues to actively research the use of mRNA for next-generation vaccines, gene editing, and mRNA therapeutics. Projects include development of a pan coronavirus vaccines, gene editing technology to enable genes that produce missing antibodies, and treatments for acute inflammatory conditions. [30] Weissman hopes that mRNA technology can be used to develop vaccines against influenza, herpes, and HIV. [12]

Recognition

For their mRNA-related work, Weissman and Karikó were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, [2] the 2020 Rosenstiel Award, [31] the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, [32] the Albany Medical Center Prize, [33] the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, [34] and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award [35] (also with Robert S. Langer).

Weissman obtained a honorary degree by the Drexel University College of Medicine. [12] In 2021, he was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award in the category for Scientific Research. [36] For 2022 he was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal [37] of the NAS jointly with Katalin Karikó and also the Japan Prize [38] Also in 2022 he received the Robert Koch Prize [39] and the Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, [40] and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. [41] [42] In 2023 he received the Harvey Prize of the Technion in Israel (awarded for the year 2021). [43]

In 2022, Weissman and Karikó were awarded the Novo Nordisk Prize [44] .

According to a report in The Washington Post , Weissman gets fan mail from people all over the world, thanking him for his work that made the COVID-19 vaccine possible — one said "You've made hugs and closeness possible again" — and asking him for a picture or his autograph. [12]

Patents

Weissman is the co-inventor on several patents, including US8278036B2 [45] and US8748089B2, [46] both with his colleague Katalin Karikó, 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. [47]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</span> One of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.

The Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research is awarded by Brandeis University. It was established in 1971 "as an expression of the conviction that educational institutions have an important role to play in the encouragement and development of basic science as it applies to medicine".

The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers who have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Fire</span> American biologist and professor of pathology and genetics

Andrew Zachary Fire is an American biologist and professor of pathology and of genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Craig C. Mello, for the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi). This research was conducted at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and published in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearl Meister Greengard Prize</span> Award

The Pearl Meister Greengard Prize is an award for women scientists in biology given annually by the Rockefeller University.

The Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research is the United States' second highest value prize in medicine and biomedical research, awarded by the Albany Medical Center. Among prizes for medicine worldwide, the Albany Medical Center Prize is the fourth most lucrative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Francia</span> American rower (born 1982)

Zsuzsanna "Susan" Francia is a Hungarian-American two-time Olympic gold medalist rower. Growing up in Abington, Pennsylvania as the daughter of Nobel laureate, Hungarian biochemist and mRNA researcher Katalin Karikó, she attended Abington Senior High School, followed by the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in sociology of law and deviance and a master's degree in criminology. She currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey, and is affiliated with the US Rowing Training Center.

The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is an annual award bestowed by the Paul Ehrlich Foundation since 1952 for investigations in medicine. It carries a prize money of 120,000 Euro. The prize awarding ceremony is traditionally held on 14 March, the birthday of Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich, in the St. Paul's Church, Frankfurt am Main.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derrick Rossi</span> Canadian stem cell biologist

Derrick J. Rossi, is a Canadian stem cell biologist and entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of the pharmaceutical company Moderna.

mRNA vaccine Type of vaccine

An mRNAvaccine is a type of vaccine that uses a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce an immune response. The vaccine delivers molecules of antigen-encoding mRNA into immune cells, which use the designed mRNA as a blueprint to build foreign protein that would normally be produced by a pathogen or by a cancer cell. These protein molecules stimulate an adaptive immune response that teaches the body to identify and destroy the corresponding pathogen or cancer cells. The mRNA is delivered by a co-formulation of the RNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles that protect the RNA strands and help their absorption into the cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katalin Karikó</span> Hungarian-American biochemist (born 1955)

Katalin "Kati" Karikó is a Hungarian-American biochemist who specializes in ribonucleic acid (RNA)-mediated mechanisms, particularly in vitro-transcribed messenger RNA (mRNA) for protein replacement therapy. Karikó laid the scientific groundwork for mRNA vaccines, overcoming major obstacles and skepticism in the scientific community. Karikó received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023 for her work, along with American immunologist Drew Weissman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uğur Şahin</span> German oncologist and immunologist (born 1965)

Uğur Şahin is a German oncologist and immunologist. He is the founder and CEO of BioNTech, which developed one of the major vaccines against COVID-19. His main fields of research are cancer research and immunology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Özlem Türeci</span> German physician, scientist and entrepreneur

Özlem Türeci is a German physician, scientist and entrepreneur. In 2008, she co-founded the biotechnology company BioNTech, which in 2020 developed the first messenger RNA-based vaccine approved for use against COVID-19. Türeci has served as BioNTech's chief medical officer since 2018. Since 2021, she has been Professor of Personalized Immunotherapy at the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON) and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Türeci and her spouse, Uğur Şahin, have won a number of awards.

A nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (modRNA) is a synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) in which some nucleosides are replaced by other naturally modified nucleosides or by synthetic nucleoside analogues. modRNA is used to induce the production of a desired protein in certain cells. An important application is the development of mRNA vaccines, of which the first authorized were COVID-19 vaccines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ALC-0315</span> Chemical compound

ALC-0315 is a synthetic lipid. A colorless oily material, it has attracted attention as a component of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, BNT162b2, from BioNTech and Pfizer. Specifically, it is one of four components that form lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which encapsulate and protect the otherwise fragile mRNA that is the active ingredient in these drugs. These nanoparticles promote the uptake of therapeutically effective nucleic acids such as oligonucleotides or mRNA both in vitro and in vivo.

Pieter Rutter Cullis is a Canadian physicist and biochemist known for his contributions to the field of lipid nanoparticles (LNP). Lipid nanoparticles are essential to current mRNA vaccines as a delivery system. Prof. Cullis is best known for the development of ionizable cationic lipids. These lipids are able to complex with negatively charged nucleic acids at low pH (≈4.0) where they are positively charged because they have a pKa if approximately 6.4. They reduce or eliminate toxicity associated with cationic lipids at physiological pH of 7.4 because they adopt a net neutral charge. Finally, they enable endosomal escape because they again become positively charged in acidified endosomes and promote formation of non-bilayer structures by interaction with negatively charged lipids. These properties are critical to the function of the mRNA vaccines and are rapidly enabling gene therapy in clinical settings.

Kathryn Ann Whitehead is an American chemical engineer who is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research considers the development of nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems for gene therapy, oral macromolecular delivery systems, and maternal and infant therapeutics. She is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2021 and Fellow of the Controlled Release Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</span> Award

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman "for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19".

The Novo Nordisk Prize is an annual award presented to acknowledge exceptional contributions within the fields of medical and health sciences. It is specifically aimed at individuals who have demonstrated outstanding research or innovation that has the potential to advance medical science, particularly in areas related to diabetes, endocrinology, and biopharmaceutical science. The prize is administered by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, an independent Danish foundation with a broad commitment to scientific research and humanitarian objectives.

References

  1. 1 2 "This Philly Scientist's Technology Helped Make the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Possible". November 12, 2020. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Covid | Premio Nobel de Medicina 2023: qué es el ARN mensajero por el que premiaron a Katalin Karikó y Drew Weissman". BBC News (in Spanish). October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  4. ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  5. ↑ "NAM Members Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman Receive Nobel Prize in Medicine". National Academy of Medicine. October 2, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Drew Weissman". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. October 5, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Drew Weissman". nobelprize.org. October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  8. ↑ O’Kane, Caitlin (October 6, 2023). "This Nobel Prize winner's call to his parents has gone viral. But they always thought he could win it". CBS News. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Drew Weissman, Katalin Karikó win Nobel in medicine for enabling mRNA COVID vaccines". www.timesofisrael.com.
  10. ↑ "Jewish American scientist wins Nobel Prize in Medicine for COVID vaccine". The Jerusalem Post . October 2, 2023.
  11. ↑ Agencies and ToI Staff. "Drew Weissman, Katalin Karikó win Nobel in medicine for enabling mRNA COVID vaccines". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Johnson, Carolyn Y. (October 1, 2021). "A scientific hunch. Then silence. Until the world needed a lifesaving vaccine". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  13. ↑ "An Overview of Vaccines".
  14. ↑ "The Brandeis alum whose research may lead to a COVID-19 vaccine". BrandeisNOW. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ Johnson, Carolyn Y. "A gamble pays off in 'spectacular success': How the leading coronavirus vaccines made it to the finish line". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Drew Weissman, MD, PhD profile". www.pennmedicine.org. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  18. ↑ Krammer, Florian; Palese, Peter (February 27, 2024). "Profile of Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman: 2023 Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 121 (9): e2400423121. doi: 10.1073/PNAS.2400423121 . PMID   38381788.
  19. ↑ "Drew Weissman, l'architecte des vaccins contre le Covid-19". LEFIGARO (in French). December 24, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  20. ↑ Franzoni, Chiara; Stephan, Paula; Veugelers, Reinhilde (June 2021). "Funding Risky Research". doi: 10.3386/w28905 .{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ↑ De George, Matthew (2021). "The Vaccine Trenches" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Gazette. No. May/June. pp. 42–49.
  22. ↑ Hogan, Michael J.; Pardi, Norbert (January 27, 2022). "mRNA Vaccines in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond". Annual Review of Medicine. 73 (1): 17–39. doi: 10.1146/annurev-med-042420-112725 . ISSN   0066-4219. PMID   34669432. S2CID   239050929.
  23. ↑ Katalin Karikó; Michael Buckstein; Houping Ni; Drew Weissman (August 2005). "Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA". Immunity . 23 (2): 165–75. doi: 10.1016/J.IMMUNI.2005.06.008 . ISSN   1074-7613. PMID   16111635. Wikidata   Q24316383.
  24. ↑ Kolata, Gina (April 8, 2021). "Long Overlooked, Kati Kariko Helped Shield the World From the Coronavirus". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  25. ↑ Żak, Magdalena M.; Zangi, Lior (October 13, 2021). "Lipid Nanoparticles for Organ-Specific mRNA Therapeutic Delivery". Pharmaceutics. 13 (10): 1675. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13101675 . ISSN   1999-4923. PMC   8538155 . PMID   34683969.
  26. ↑ "Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman". National Academy of Sciences.
  27. ↑ "Understanding mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines". Center for Disease Control and Prevention. March 4, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Chula Medicine Announced the Success of Clinical Trials for the "ChulaCov19" Vaccine". Chulalongkorn University. August 23, 2021.
  29. ↑ Saengmanee, Pattarawadee (June 15, 2021). "Leading by example". Bangkok Post.
  30. ↑ Siddiqui, Imran (April 6, 2021). "Penn professor whose mRNA research paved way for COVID-19 vaccine is leading new treatments". www.thedp.com.
  31. ↑ "Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research". www.brandeis.edu. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  32. ↑ "The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize". Columbia University Irving Medical Center. June 14, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  33. ↑ Albany Medical Center Prize 2021
  34. ↑ Hofschneider, Mark. "Modified mRNA vaccines". Lasker Foundation. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  35. ↑ "Find out about the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award". Premios Fronteras.
  36. ↑ IT, Developed with webControl CMS by Intermark. "Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman, Philip Felgner, Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci, Derrick Rossi and Sarah Gilbert – Laureates – Princess of Asturias Awards". The Princess of Asturias Foundation. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  37. ↑ "Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal". www.nasonline.org.
  38. ↑ "The Japan Prize Foundation". The Japan Prize Foundation.
  39. ↑ "Aktuelle Presse-Informationen". www.robert-koch-stiftung.de.
  40. ↑ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  41. ↑ "Tang Prize | Media | 2022 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science Honors Three Scientists for Developing COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines". www.tang-prize.org.
  42. ↑ "Awards and Accolades | The Weissman Lab | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania". www.med.upenn.edu.
  43. ↑ "Harvey Prize 2021". Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  44. ↑ "Four scientists receive the Novo Nordisk Prize for their combined contributions to COVID-19 mRNA vaccine". Novo Nordisk Fonden. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  45. ↑ "Espacenet – search results". worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  46. ↑ "Espacenet – search results". worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  47. ↑ Elie Dolgin (June 1, 2015). "Business: The billion-dollar biotech". Nature . 522 (7554): 26–28. Bibcode:2015Natur.522...26D. doi:10.1038/522026A. ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   26040878. S2CID   4450181. Wikidata   Q85290452.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.