It’s Pronounced Koe-mir’-na-tee. How The Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine’s Name Came To Be

Enlarge this image

In this March photo, pharmacy technician Hollie Maloney loads a syringe with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine at the Portland Expo in Portland, Maine. The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Coronavirus Updates
Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID Vaccine Gets Full Approval From The FDA

So, how did Pfizer and BioNTech settle on this unique moniker?

BioNTech and Pfizer wanted to highlight special meaning

The naming process started early on in the vaccine’s development.

Brand Institute, the naming agency behind the effort, started working with BioNTech in April 2020, according to the website FiercePharma. Pfizer would later join the branding team.

Scott Piergrossi, Brand Institute’s president of operations and communications, told FiercePharma that the goal in naming drugs is «to overlap ideas and layer meaning into a name.

Enlarge this image

A nurse holds a vial containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile vaccination site.

Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Enlarge this image

White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, pictured in January, told NPR on Monday that he expects that full FDA approval will motivate more people to get vaccinated.

Alex Brandon/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Alex Brandon/AP

White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, pictured in January, told NPR on Monday that he expects that full FDA approval will motivate more people to get vaccinated.

Alex Brandon/AP

What’s Moderna’s vaccine going to be called?

Spikevax, according to the European Medicines Agency.

Moderna still awaits full FDA approval for its COVID-19 vaccine.