# Uğur Şahin

Source: https://onco.cc/people/ugur-sahin/  
OnCo record `ugur-sahin` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Immunologist who built individualised mRNA neoantigen vaccines for cancer, the platform later used for COVID-19.

## Summary

Uğur Şahin led the 2017 Nature trial showing individualised mRNA vaccines encoding each patient's mutations induce T-cell responses in melanoma, the proof of concept for personalised cancer vaccines now in phase 2 and 3 trials with autogene cevumeran in pancreatic and colorectal cancer. He co-founded BioNTech with Özlem Türeci and continues academic work in Mainz on mRNA, CAR-T and bispecific therapies.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: vaccine; mrna; immunotherapy
- Role: Professor of Translational Oncology, University Medical Center Mainz; Co-founder and CEO, BioNTech
- Specialisms: mRNA cancer vaccines; Neoantigen immunotherapy; Translational oncology; Individualised therapy

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%C4%9Fur_%C5%9Eahin
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Sahin%20U%5BAuthor%5D%20mRNA%20vaccine%20neoantigen

## Connected records

- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pancreatic/)
- technologies: [Personalised neoantigen (mRNA) vaccines](https://onco.cc/technologies/neoantigen-mrna-vaccine/)
- drugs: [Autogene cevumeran](https://onco.cc/drugs/autogene-cevumeran/)
- institutions: [University Cancer Center Mainz (UCT Mainz) / Universitätsmedizin Mainz](https://onco.cc/institutions/uct-mainz/)
- key papers: [RNA neoantigen vaccines prime long-lived CD8+ T cells in pancreatic cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-sethna-rna-neoantigen-vaccine-long-lived-t-cells-nature-2025/), [Rojas 2023: a personalised mRNA vaccine trained T cells against each patient's pancreatic cancer, and those who responded stayed cancer-free longer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-rojas-mrna-neoantigen-vaccine-pancreatic-nature-2023/)
- roadmaps: [Pancreatic cancer roadmap: from Whipple's operation to gemcitabine, FOLFIRINOX, adjuvant chemotherapy, PARP inhibition, KRAS inhibition, vaccines and the surveillance question](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/pancreatic-roadmap/)

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