Kathrin Jansen

Kathrin U. Jansen (born 1958) is the former Head of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer. She previously led the development of the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) and newer versions of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevnar), and is working with BioNTech to create a COVID-19 vaccine using mRNA (Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine) that was approved for Emergency Use Authorization in the United States on December 11, 2020.

Early life and education Jansen was born in Erfurt, East Germany. She was frequently unwell as a child, and suffered several throat infections. The medical treatment she received from her father (antibiotics, codeine) inspired her to pursue a career in drug development. Her family fled to West Germany before the Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961. To transport Jansen across the border, her aunt pretended that she was her child, giving her some sleeping pills so that she didn't wake up and tell the border patrol the truth. After earning her degree, Jansen moved to Cornell University as an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral fellow investigating the function of the acetylcholine receptor with George Paul Hess. In particular, Jansen focussed on the yeast expression of multi-subunit neuronal receptors. Soon after Jian Zhou and Ian Frazer started work on the HPV vaccine, proposing that the proteins of the human papillomavirus infection virus-like particles could be self assembled into something that could be used as a vaccine. Jansen proposed the vaccine should be made in yeast, a substrate which Merck & Co. had previously used for the Hepatitis B vaccine. Various innovations were required to ensure that the yeast did not degrade the virus like particles, and prevent their aggregation. and Jansen left the Merck & Co. knowing that the vaccination would be a success.

She joined VaxGen in 2004, where she was appointed chief scientific officer. In 2006 Jansen left VaxGen to join Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in 2006, where she was responsible for vaccine discovery. In 2010 Jansen was appointed adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She looked at four potential candidates, before joining with BioNTech to improve the likelihood of identifying the vaccine with the highest potential. To test efficacy, Jansen and Pfizer are working under guidance from the Food and Drug Administration and conducting a 30,000 patient study.

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