The Canadian co-founder of Moderna says he's proud to have won a prestigious European science award, which esteemed scientists such as Stephen Hawking have won in the past.

Derrick Rossi, who was born in Toronto and now lives in the Boston area, says he won the 2021 Princess of Asturias award for his work on the mRNA technology that led to the creation of COVID-19 vaccines.

He won alongside multiple other researchers based in Hungary, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S whose work also contributed to designing the vaccine.

The panel for the award calls them leading figures in one of the most outstanding feats in the history of science for leading the way to developing vaccines in an extraordinarily short space of time.

The COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna both use mRNA technology, and it's the first time the technology has been used for a vaccine.

Rossi, who is no longer with Moderna and is working on multiple other initiatives, says it was always his goal to have his work impact human health in a positive way.