RNA-based corona vaccines - let's talk about it

1. The virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit from Hamburg does not expect a quick end to the corona pandemic through a vaccine. We have to say goodbye to the idea "that next year we will have a super vaccine that can be given to everyone in the shortest possible time and will protect them for a lifetime", Schmidt-Chanasit told the "Frühstart" editorial team of RTL/ntv. "This vaccine will not exist and certainly not next year."

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2. The German government is investing 300 million euros in the biotech company CureVac AG, which is working on a Corvid 19 vaccine. (June 2020) (https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/impfstoffentwicklung1760590)

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3. In a recent interview with Rubikon Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, medical doctor, health expert and former SPD member of Bundestag in Berlin, claims that a corona vaccine would turn the patient into a GMO. Literally Dr Wodarg talks about "a genetic modification" that the vaccinated person will undergo. (May 2020) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vaw_3F3Kq50)

It is enough! More than enough! I'm sick and tired of this bullshit! I am a professional vaccine developer since 30 years with a PhD in virus immunology (DKFZ/ Heidelberg), and a second PhD (German Habilitation) in medical virology (Leipzig university), with deep experience in industrial vaccine research and development, author of three scientific books on molecular vaccines. The last one is a global textbook for the academic education: “Introduction to Molecular Vaccinology” (Springer International Publishing).

Ad 1:
First of all questions, what is a “super vaccine”? Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit has not yet revealed himself as a vaccine developer. In any case, neither his projects nor his publications reveal any expertise in this field. Nothing more can be said about this and every word more would be too much. Just enough for the yellow press. (https://www.bnitm.de/forschung/forschungsgruppen/molekularbiologie-und-immunologie/arbeitsgruppe-schmidt-chanasit/)

Ad 2:
Take home the feeling of revolution - Groundbreaking - Breakthrough - Game-changing - Vaccination on demand - Revolutionizing mRNA for Life…. Typical marketing buzzwords of RNA vaccine companies around the world. But very few things are actually groundbreaking or a revolution.

RNA vaccines – Hype versus reality

The dogma of molecular biology explains the flow of genetic information, from DNA to RNA, to make a functional protein: DNA makes RNA makes protein. The DNA is located in the nucleus. In the nucleus the genetic information is transcribed from DNA into mRNA, a transport form which can leave the nucleus towards the ribosomes. Here in the cytoplasm of the cell, the mRNA is read and translated into specific proteins. A RNA based vaccine circumvents the DNA gene expression, has no contact to the nucleus, offering the cell a finished mRNA immediately. Generally, the RNA vaccine targets dendritic antigen presenting cells. So far so good. This type of vaccine is biologically safe but very ineffective. The following applies to all RNA vaccines tested so far: clinical validation remains elusive!

Two examples:
CureVac’s Prostate Cancer Vaccine Candidate CV9104 fails Phase IIb Trial (2017). „Scince everybody is promising something, everybody has to deliver.“ (Ingmar Hoerr, co-founder of CureVac)

BioNTech and Roche post a “low” response rate in a phase 1b trial of a personalized cancer vaccine in development at. (June 2020)

(The RNA vaccine technology is the same for cancer diseases and infections.)

CureVac was founded in 2000, NO registered vaccine on the market so far. BioNTech was founded in 2008, NO registered vaccine on the market so far.

“When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.”

Until today there is NO registered RNA vaccine in the world from any company. In industrial research, you learn very early on what a high-risk project is. Each RNA vaccine approach is a high-risk project, time and money consuming, unsuccessful for 20 years. RNA vaccine companies sell an illusion. It is scientifically incomprehensible why the German government is putting 300 million euros into a risky technology and into a company that has not yet been able to register and deliver a single RNA vaccine although there are some alternative and successful vaccine technologies in Germany.

Ad 3:
I have asked Dr Wodarg in writing to explain which vaccine turns the vaccinee into a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) what would be subject to registration. No reply. A dead GMO is hazardous waste by law with all consequences according to the German Act of Genetic Engineering (GenTG). A genetic vaccine causing mutations would never be authorised.

There is NO genetic modification after vaccination, also after RNA vaccination, see above. Bad scare tactics only. Nothing more need be said.