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The two companies signed a cooperation and service agreement, as announced Thursday. Meanwhile, criticism of the start of vaccination has not abated. The SPD again accused the federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn (CDU), of being too indecisive when placing the order.
CureVac has been developing a vaccine for a long time, but market approval is not yet in sight. Bayer should now participate in the extensive work for approval and the necessary study, and also monitor supply chains. The contract does not include Bayer taking over production. The news portal “The Pioneer” had previously reported on the alliance.
In December, CureVac received the green light to begin its pivotal phase III clinical trial for the corona vaccine “CVnCoV.” This phase attempts to test safety and efficacy in adults in locations in Europe and Latin America. The CVnCoV vaccine is also based on mRNA, like the BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna products, which have already been approved in the EU.
CureVac expects the first results by the end of the first quarter of 2021. In case of approval, the EU Commission has secured 405 million doses for EU states. NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) welcomed the news. “Another bright spot on the horizon. It is good that we have strong pharmaceutical companies in the country,” he wrote on the short message service Twitter.
CureVac boss Franz-Werner Haas was satisfied with “another strong partner at our side.” According to his own statements, his company has about 500 employees, the majority owner is the founder of SAP, Dietmar Hopp. Almost a quarter (23 percent) have belonged to the state funding bank KfW and thus indirectly to the federal government since last summer. With the entry, Berlin wanted to protect the company against a possible acquisition from abroad. According to the information, CureVac would continue to be the holder of the marketing authorization. Bayer, however, would have the option of becoming the approval holder in certain markets outside of Europe.
For the federal government, the cooperation between CureVac and Bayer is another pillar to allow the vaccination of all federal citizens who are ready for the summer. Currently weak vaccination capacities could increase significantly in a few months due to the CureVac / Bayer alliance.
The pre-start of vaccination has been too slow from the point of view of the SPD. SPD Vice President Kevin Khnert criticized the earlier purchase of vaccines in the “Rheinische Post” and the “General-Anzeiger” (Thursday). “It’s like this: if I still can’t find the needle in the haystack, but I need it urgently, I’ll buy the haystack first to be safe and do it all.” He was referring to the fact that it was not clear for a long time which vaccine developments would be successful.
Spahn resisted criticism. On ZDF, he confirmed Wednesday night: “Now it’s a tight start at the beginning. That was clear, and so it is.” The recently approved Moderna vaccine will also be in short supply in the first few weeks, Spahn said. “And then, starting in the second trimester, things will gradually improve.” The president of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, defended the decision of a vaccine procurement coordinated at European level. “The fight against Corona is” as good as we can manage it in Europe, “he told the German press agency.
As politicians discuss the initiation of vaccination, everyone’s nurses obviously want to be less vaccinated than expected. From the point of view of the President of the Permanent Commission on Vaccination (Stiko), Thomas Mertens, this is mainly due to lack of information and incorrect information. “It should not be assumed that prior knowledge of an mRNA vaccine among medical personnel is on average much better than in the rest of the population,” Mertens told the German press agency.
There should be no obligation to vaccinate in the fight against the pandemic in Germany. This is also rejected by the majority of Germans, as revealed by a poll conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German press agency. According to this, 56 percent were against mandatory immunization against the dangerous virus. 33 percent voted against such a step. 11 percent did not provide any information.
As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Thursday, German health departments reported 26,391 new corona infections in one day. In addition, 1070 new deaths were recorded in 24 hours. Interpretation of the data remains difficult because, according to the RKI, corona cases were discovered, recorded and transmitted with a delay around Christmas and the turn of the year.
CureVac expects vaccine launch this summer
Tbingen biotechnology company CureVac hopes to be able to use its corona vaccine this summer through its cooperation with the pharmaceutical company. “We expect our vaccine to be approved and used in the middle of the current year or in the third quarter,” said CureVac spokesperson Thorsten Schller of the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Friday). It is not yet clear whether Bayer will also take over the production of the vaccine in addition to helping with market-ready development, he said. Production of the vaccine is not part of the current cooperation agreement. However, Bayer had promised to examine whether it would be possible to manufacture the vaccine at its production facilities, the spokesman said.
CureVac announced on Thursday that it had signed a cooperation and service agreement with the pharmaceutical company Bayer. CureVac has been developing a vaccine for a long time, but market approval is not yet in sight. Now Bayer is supposed to help with the complex work involved in the approval process and the necessary study, while also keeping an eye on supply chains.
Shares of CureVac on Thursday in XETRA soared at times by 10.70 percent to 80.15 euros. Bayer shares continued their most recent rally, rising 2.51 percent to 52.72 euros. However, Redburn investment house analyst Tony Jones sees no major profit opportunities for Bayer in the cooperation. However, the deal is good for investor confidence.
/ div / wdw / DP / mis
BERLIN / AUGSBURG / TBINGEN (dpa-AFX)
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