Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman, Philip Felgner, Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci, Derrick Rossi and Sarah Gilbert 2021 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research

In the course of its online meeting, the Jury for the 2021 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, made up of Juan Luis Arsuaga Ferreras, César Cernuda Rego, Juan Ignacio Cirac Sasturáin, Elena García Armada, Clara Grima Ruiz, Jerónimo López Martínez, Inmaculada Martínez Rubio, Amador Menéndez Velázquez, Sir Salvador Moncada, Concepción Alicia Monje Micharet, Ginés Morata Pérez, Enrique Moreno González, Lluis Quintana-Murci, Peregrina Quintela Estévez, Inés Rodríguez Hidalgo, Manuel Toharia Cortés, María Vallet Regí, chaired by Pedro Miguel Echenique Landiríbar and with Santiago García Granda as acting secretary, has decided to grant the 2021 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research to Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman, Philip Felgner, Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci, Derrick Rossi and Sarah Gilbert.

The laureates are leading figures in one of the most outstanding events in the history of science. Their work is an exceptional example of the importance of basic science for the protection of health on a global scale.

Their long-standing work in basic research has led to innovative applications such as obtaining effective vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in an extraordinarily short time.

Both the development of novel messenger RNA technology and the production of adenovirus-based vaccines open a path of hope for their use against other diseases.

23rd June 2021