Katalin Karikó

Katalin Kariko is a Hungarian biochemist who specializes in RNA-mediated mechanisms. Her research has served the ultimate goal of developing in vitro-transcribed mRNA for protein therapies. She currently serves as the Senior Vice President at BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals.

Her work includes decades of scientific research of RNA-mediated immune activation and co-discovered the nucleoside modifications that suppress the immunogenicity of RNA, which is widely seen as expanding the therapeutic potential of mRNA. She holds patents granted in the USA for application of non-immunogenic, nucleoside-modified RNA. She co-founded and served as CEO of RNARx from 2006-2013..

Life and Career of Dr. Katalin Karikó

Early life and education

After earning her Ph.D., she continued her research at and postdoctoral studies at the Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre, the Temple University Department of Biochemistry, and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science. While serving as postdoctoral fellow at Temple University in Philadelphia, Dr. Kariko participated in a clinical trial in which patients with AIDS, hematological diseases and chronic fatigue were treated with dsRNA. At the time, this was considered groundbreaking research as the molecular mechanism of interferon induction by dsRNA was not known, but the antiviral and antineoplastic effects of interferon were well documented

Career

In 1990, while a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Kariko submitted her first grant application in which she proposed to establish mRNA-based gene therapy. Ever since, mRNA-based therapy has been Kariko’s primary research interest. Kariko server for nearly 25 years as a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

In 2012, Karikó and Drew Weissman, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania, received a patent for the use of several modified nucleosides to reduce the antiviral immune response to mRNA and they founded a small company. Soon after, UPenn sold the intellectual property license to Gary Dahl, the head of a lab supply company that eventually became Cellscript. Weeks later, Karikó says, Flagship Pioneering, the venture capital company who was and still is backing Moderna, contacted her in hopes of licensing the patent. All Karikó said was “we don’t have it.” In early 2013, Karikó heard of Moderna’s $240 million deal with AstraZeneca to develop a VEGF mRNA, and the news lit a fire under her. Karikó realized she would not get a chance to apply her experience with mRNA at UPenn and took her role as Senior Vice President at BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals.

Her research and specializations include Messenger RNA-based gene therapy, RNA-induced immune reactions, molecular bases of ischemic tolerance and treatment of brain ischemia.

Scientific contributions of Dr. Katalin Karikó

The work and research of Karikó has contributed to BioNTech’s effort to create immune cells that produce vaccine antigens — Kariko’s research revealed the ability to leverage the antiviral response to mRNA to give their cancer vaccines an extra boost in defense against tumors.

Patents

US8278036B2 & US8748089B2 — This invention provides RNA, oligoribonucleotide, and polyribonucleotide molecules comprising pseudouridine or a modified nucleoside, gene therapy vectors comprising same, methods of synthesizing same, and methods for gene replacement, gene therapy, gene transcription silencing, and the delivery of therapeutic proteins to tissue in vivo, comprising the molecules. The present invention also provides methods of reducing the immunogenicity of RNA, oligoribonucleotide, and polyribonucleotide molecules.

Personal life of Dr. Katalin Karikó

Dr. Katalin Karikó is the daughter of a butcher and bookkeeper and grew up in Kisujszallas, Hungary.  She is married and has a daughter Susan Francia who won 2 Olympic gold medals for the United States Rowing at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Summer Olympics. Katalin’s sister Dr. Zsuzsanna Karikó is an accomplished accountant in Budapest, working with some of Hungary’s most high profile national companies.

Notable Publications from Dr. Katalin Karikó

• Anderson B, Muramatsu H, Nallagatla SR, Bevilacqua P, Sansing L, Weissman D, Karikó K: Incorporation of pseudouridine into mRNA enhances translation by diminishing PKR activation. Nucleic Acids Res 38: 5884-92, 2010.
• Karikó, K., Muramatsu, H., Welsh, FA., Ludwig, J., Kato, H., Akira, S., Weissman, D.: Incorporation of pseudouridine into mRNA yields superior nonimmunogenic vector with increased translational capacity and biological stability. Molecular Therapy 16: 1833-1840, 2008.
• Karikó K, Buckstein M, Ni H, Weissman D.: Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA. Immunity 23(2): 165-75, 2005. Suppression of RNA recognition by Toll-like receptors: the impact of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA
• Karikó K, Weissman D, Welsh FA: Inhibition of toll-like receptor and cytokine signaling--a unifying theme in ischemic tolerance. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 24(11): 1288-304, 2004.
• Karikó K, Ni H, Capodici J, Lamphier M, Weissman D.: mRNA is an endogenous ligand for Toll-like receptor 3. J Biol Chem 279(13): 12542-12550, 2004.

Organizations concerning Dr. Katalin Karikó

• Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania
• [./Https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioNTech BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals]
• RNARx