BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine project started before the first reported COVID cases in Wuhan, with preclinical testing beginning on January 14, 2020 and the project itself starting even earlier, according to a report from the Brownstone Institute.
BioNTech’s CEO, Ugur Sahin, claimed in his book that the company’s COIVD vaccine project was launched on January 27, 2020, but a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showed that preclinical testing began on January 14.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated on January 14 that there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of COVID. “Why in the world would BioNTech begin work on a Covid-19 vaccine without clear evidence of human-to-human transmission?” the Brownstone Institute piece asks.
Pfizer was not a part of BioNTech’s project at the start, joining three months later. “So, we know that BioNTech began preclinical testing on January 14. But, of course, this means that the project as such must have been launched even earlier. The formulation being tested had to be produced first,” the piece explains.
The preclinical testing was for a formulation of BioNTech’s mRNA formulated in lipids made by Canadian company Acuitas. “In this case, that meant first manufacturing the mRNA and then formulating it in lipid nanoparticles.”
BioNTech’s mRNA manufacturing process takes five days. “Five days brings us then to January 9. But the mRNA had still to be wrapped in the lipids, and this involved a particular logistical problem: BioNTech could not do this itself at its headquarters in Mainz, Germany,” the piece adds.
BioNTech had internal lipids but found them inadequate, so mRNA had to be sent to an Austrian subcontractor, Polymun outside Vienna, for encapsulation in Acuitas lipids: “The mRNA was transported by car – an 8-hour drive, according to Sahin and Türeci – then formulated in the lipids by Polymun, and then the formulation was driven back to Mainz. In the book, Sahin and Türeci describe a batch of mRNA for a subsequent animal study being completed on March 2, being shipped to Polymun, and then returning to Mainz wrapped in the lipids on March 9 (pp. 116 and 123).”
BioNTech’s mRNA was shipped to Polymun for encapsulation in Acuitas lipids, adding 5 days to the timeline. Animal testing was subcontracted and began March 11, 2 days after lipid-encapsulated mRNA delivery.
“Adding another 2 days to our timeline brings us now to January 2. January 2, 2020 was not two weeks, but merely two days after the first report of Covid-19 cases in Wuhan on December 31, 2019,” the piece reasons. “But before it could be manufactured, needless to say, the formulation to be tested had first to be conceived and designed; and contact had to be made with Polymun and Acuitas to obtain the required permissions and arrange for the required collaboration. All of this takes time.”
The piece concludes: “There is no avoiding the conclusion that BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine project must in fact have started before any Covid-19 cases had even been reported! The obvious question is: How is this possible?”
