[fermienrico]

May be its just easier to pronounce Pfizer than BioNTech?

Not everything needs to be distilled down to nationalistic undertones.

I am getting sick of this kind of discussion permeating on HN - It is extremely juvenile and damaging to the spirit of HN. In this regard, Reddit seems to be a lot better. Go on any vaccine related thread and there is absolutely none of this. There is so much more global cooperation observed on Reddit than on HN.

[epistasis]

This has nothing to do with nationalism. I'm not German. I don't care about whether Germany gets credit for this. I care about BioNTech getting credit.

My complaint, beyond just the media, is that large pharma, like Pfizer, being fundamentally uninnovative companies that grow by acquisition rather than invention. And about small companies being denied the potential to grow because of an oligopoly of control.

Name brand recognition drives dollars, and in biotech the ability to raise money is just as much a hurdle as the chances of your trial failing.

[fermienrico]

I see your point, and that's a valid concern. I wonder how much damage public PR does to investors - who are supposed to be highly informed and not be pursued by public hype.