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. Previously, she co-founded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals in 2001 and served as CEO until the company was acquired by Astellas Pharma in 2016. Earlier, Türeci worked primarily in research and teaching. She is also a Privatdozentin at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Türeci and her spouse, Uğur Şahin, have won a number of awards, and in 2020, became the first Turkish German on the list of Germany's top 100 wealthiest people.