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Cooperate yes, get on board no: The main owner of the vaccine maker Curevac, Dietmar Hopp, spoke about the future of the company after the visit of the head of Tesla, Elon Musk. “For Curevac, I can say that he sees great potential in the collaboration with Mr. Musk and that a collaboration that goes far beyond vaccines is judged extremely positively,” Hopp told Merkur.de.
On the other hand, the co-founder of the software giant SAP rejected speculation about the possible entry of the American businessman in Curevac. The corresponding considerations are “pure fantasy”.
According to the dpa news agency, a Curevac spokesperson also said after the meeting that it was only about the project. There was no question of Musk’s possible involvement in Curevac during the conversation.
Musk Introduces Vaccine Machine
Musk is in Germany for a multi-day visit. He was briefed on the progress in the development of Curevac’s Covid-19 vaccine in Tübingen and presented a machine that produces a fully automated vaccine on the sidelines of the closed-door meeting of the Union parliamentary group. It was built by Grohmann, a Tesla subsidiary in Rhineland-Palatinate, together with Curevac.
Curevac is by no means the only manufacturer working on a vaccine against the sometimes deadly and financially devastating coronavirus. But the company is definitely considered a beacon of hope. For example, the EU Commission had already secured up to 405 million doses of one of the company’s vaccines.
One thing is clear: whoever can get a vaccine to market faster can expect generous profits. Elon Musk’s visit therefore sparked speculation about the acquisition.
Hopp promises “that Curevac is and will remain a German company”
Majority shareholder Hopp said Curevac has only been on the stock market for three weeks, “with great success so far” and “well funded.” Furthermore, “my promise that Curevac is and will remain a German company” still stands. Hopp owns about 49 percent of Curevac’s shares through its dievini subsidiary Hopp Biotech.
In June, the federal government announced that it would acquire about 23 percent of the company through KfW for 300 million euros. At the time it was said that they wanted to give Hopp financial security.
The entry into the state was also seen as a reaction to Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to secure the exclusive right of the United States to a possible vaccine. In this way, the entry of foreign investors should also be avoided. Federal Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said at the time: “Germany is not for sale. We do not sell our cutlery.”
