https://apnews.com/0c4e1e0fee0248d983cda39364bf7d82 > MAINZ, Germany (AP) — The email that arrived in the ancient German city of Mainz shortly before 1 a.m. in the morning marked a turning point in the global effort to deliver a reliable vaccine against the coronavirus pandemic - and for the little-known biotechnology company that helped develop it. > BioNTech has at times been portrayed as the junior partner in U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's race to get approval for the COVID vaccine a pandemic-weary world is desperately waiting for. In fact, the company's use of gene technology to beat the virus was key to the rapid development of the vaccine that British regulators OK'd for emergency use early Wednesday.