Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó and American microbiologist Drew Weissman will receive this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for discoveries that laid the foundation for the development of mRNA-based vaccines, it was announced Monday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

According to the reasoning of the competent committee, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman will receive the award for discoveries related to the modification of nucleosides, which enabled the development of an effective mRNA-based vaccine against Covid-19.

The recipient will receive 11 million Swedish krona (368 million forints). The prize is traditionally presented on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the prize.

After Albert Szent-Györgyi and Imre Kertész, Katalin Karikó is the third person to receive the world's most prestigious award as a citizen of the country, and the first Hungarian woman to win the Nobel Prize.