Nat Geo Doc To Follow Covid Vaccine Creators As They Take On Fight Against Cancer
A Nat Geo doc is to follow the husband-and-wife team behind the Covid-19 Pfizer BionTech vaccine as they take on the fight against cancer.
In The Cancer Vaccine [working title], Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci’s race to create an entirely new class of medicines that use the body’s own defenses to defeat cancer will be charted, with Academy Award-winning indie Oxford Films and BAFTA-winner Patrick Forbes behind the doc.
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The show, which is being unveiled at this week’s Sheffield Doc Fest, begins with the story of Şahin and Türeci’s fight against Covid-19, protecting millions of people around the world from the deadliest pandemic of modern times. Next, the pair have set themselves an incredibly difficult task: to create utterly personalized medicines. With this approach they hope not just to save lives but to transform medicine, creating an entirely new class of drugs and therapies that work with a body’s defenses, not against them.
Nat Geo’s EVP Global Factual and Unscripted Tom McDonald said the feature will “give viewers a front-row seat to one of the biggest events in history unfolding in real time – the scientists racing to find a potential cure for cancer.”
“With unprecedented inside access, we are honored to be able to shine a light on the heroes – the scientists, patients and people, who are working to combat this disease that affects far too many of our friends, families and neighbors,” he added.
For Hilary and Jackie indie Oxford Films, Nick Kent and Simon Finch are executive producers and Forbes (The Phantom) is director. For National Geographic, Simon Raikes is commissioning editor.
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