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Currently, several companies are developing corona vaccines. CureVac is one of them, but it won’t be the first to launch yours. Instead, the German company wants to win another race.
Tübingen-based biotech company CureVac strongly hopes that its Covid-19 vaccine, which is currently being developed, will be successful. “We are planning for success and want to have more than 100 million cans available by the end of the year,” said CureVac principal owner and SAP founder Dietmar Hopp of the “Handelsblatt” (Friday issue).
Approval is expected by summer 2021 at the latest
Approval is expected in spring or summer 2021, but possibly even earlier on a restricted basis. It cannot be completely ruled out “that the vaccine will be approved this year on the basis of provisional data, for example for certain occupational groups or particularly vulnerable regions.” The authorities would have to decide that when the data is available.
Hopp admitted that CureVac would not be the first company with a vaccine in view of the more advanced development of the two main competitors, the American company Moderna and the Biontech company of Mainz. “We can’t win this race. But we want to win the race for the best vaccine and we have a good chance there.”
The federal government provides financial support
According to a media report, CureVac receives funding from the federal government. On Monday, the corresponding notification from the Federal Ministry of Research was sent to CureVac, according to which the company would be supported with 252 million euros for the accelerated development and production of a vaccine, ”Business Insider reported this Friday, citing government circles. In return, the federal government secured a stake. The money came from a special program launched by the ministry in May amounting to 750 million euros, details were initially unknown.
CureVac works with Grohmann, a Tesla subsidiary
CureVac vaccines are based on messenger RNA (mRNA). CureVac works with Grohmann, a Tesla subsidiary, on so-called RNA printers, that is, production units to produce mRNA. When asked if the collaboration with Tesla boss Elon Musk could be broadened and deepened, Hopp said: “Probably yes.”
A meeting between Musk and Hopp had sparked speculation about the American billionaire’s entry into CureVac, which Hopp had already rejected. In the “Handelsblatt” he said about the cooperation that CureVac was concentrating on “getting approval for the printer and then making it available to interested regions, organizations and clinics.”
The CureVac candidate vaccine is currently in the first phase of clinical development and is being tested in healthy adults at various study centers in Germany and Belgium.
