Full Press Release Details
CureVac and UK Government to collaborate on development of
vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants
T BINGEN, Germany/ BOSTON, USA - February 05,
2021 - CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines
based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), today announced that it has entered a collaboration with the UK Government to develop
and manufacture potential vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Any resulting vaccine candidates will be manufactured
and distributed in the UK and its overseas and dependent territories, subject to regulatory approval. The objective of the collaboration
is to mitigate the effects of the current pandemic and help prepare against future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks by working on multiple
"One of the biggest challenges we continue to face in
combating COVID-19 is the emergence of multiple variants, each of which poses a potentially significant threat to public health,"
said Dr. Antony Blanc, Chief Business Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of CureVac. "The UK Government and its Vaccines
Taskforce set up by BEIS has been at the forefront of surveillance, vaccine development and delivery of vaccines for deployment
during this pandemic. At CureVac, we believe we have the ability to quickly adapt our mRNA technology to address current variants
and prepare for the emergence of new strains. This collaboration is expected to bring to bear our significant combined forces to
ensure vaccines keep winning against COVID-19."
Dr Clive Dix, Interim Chair of the UK Vaccines Task Force added
: "Today's agreement will help ensure the UK is best prepared against the emergence of any significant new virus variant
as mRNA vaccines can be rapidly adapted to be effective against new virus variants more easily than traditional vaccine technologies.
We are constantly tracking the virus so we can identify any significant new variant as quickly as possible; therefore, as part
of this agreement, CureVac and the UK Government will assess multiple virus variants and are expected to generate multiple vaccine
candidates against those selected."
The research and development collaboration combines
CureVac's resources and technological expertise in mRNA vaccine development with the scientific experience of the
Vaccines Taskforce (VTF) and the UK's network of experts and capabilities in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine research and
development. As part of the collaboration, the VTF, informed by the newly-formed Variant Vaccine Expert Advisory Group, and
CureVac, with its unique mRNA vaccine platform, will assess multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and are expected to generate vaccine
candidates against those selected. Clinical studies will be expedited in the UK in order to secure emergency or conditional
marketing authorizations for selected vaccine candidates against the most threatening variant viruses.
CureVac will also transfer its technology to enable the manufacturing
of clinical and commercial quantities of any vaccines that result from the collaboration, as well as manufacturing of CureVac's
existing vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 (CVnCoV), which is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials.
The collaboration with the VTF and the UK government complements
and accelerates CureVac s COVID-19 program and its ability to contribute to stopping the pandemic. CureVac's CVnCoV
vaccine candidate currently in development is supported by Bayer, and CureVac is co-developing its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine
candidates with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Both collaborations will benefit from the variants developed with the VTF.
Subject to regulatory approval, the agreement includes an initial
supply of 50 million doses of variant vaccines to the UK with some production expected to take place in the UK. Additionally, the
agreement foresees that manufacturing capabilities will be in place for rapid production of large quantities of variant vaccines
for the UK if and when needed over the next three years. CureVac is expecting to use its broader manufacturing network to produce
variant vaccine candidates for global supply.
CureVac tackling COVID-19
CureVac began development
of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidates in January 2020. The vaccine candidate chosen for first clinical development, CVnCoV,
is an optimized, non-chemically modified mRNA, encoding the prefusion stabilized full-length spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus,
and formulated within Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs). Phase 1 and 2a clinical trials of CVnCoV began in June and September 2020, respectively.
Phase 1 interim data reported in November 2020 showed that CVnCoV was generally well tolerated across all tested doses and induced
strong antibody responses in addition to first indication of T cell activation. The quality of immune response was comparable to
recovered COVID-19 patients, closely mimicking the immune response after natural COVID-19 infection. In December 2020 CureVac initiated
a pivotal Phase 2b/3, the HERALD study, with a 2 g dose of CVnCoV.
CureVac has entered into
several strategic partnerships for the further development, production and commercialization of CVnCoV. The company entered into
a collaboration agreement with Bayer in January 2021 with regards to CureVac s current CVnCoV currently in clinical Phase
2b/3. Earlier this week, CureVac and the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) agreed to jointly develop next-generation
multi-valent mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. The development of new vaccine candidates is strengthened by a partnership with the
UK Government and its Vaccines Taskforce, which CureVac entered in February 2021. GSK will also potentially contribute to this
collaboration. Clinical trial and commercial material is provided by the company's substantial production capacities for
mRNA vaccines at its headquarters in T bingen, supported by the current expansion of manufacturing capacities in Europe, allowing
broad-scale manufacturing of CVnCoV for potential commercial supply preparedness.
CureVac is a global biopharmaceutical company in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, with more than 20 years of expertise
in developing and optimizing the versatile biological molecule for medical purposes. The principle of CureVac's proprietary technology
is the use of non-chemically modified mRNA as a data carrier to instruct the human body to produce its own proteins capable of
fighting a broad range of diseases. Based on its proprietary technology, the company has built a deep clinical pipeline across
the areas of prophylactic vaccines, cancer therapies, antibody therapies, and the treatment of rare diseases. CureVac had its
initial public offering on the New York Nasdaq in August 2020. It is headquartered in T bingen, Germany, and employs more
than 500 people at its sites in T bingen, Frankfurt, and Boston, USA. Further information can be found at www.curevac.com.
CureVac Media Contact
Thorsten Sch ller, Vice President Communications
CureVac, T bingen, Germany
T: +49 7071 9883-1577
CureVac Investor Relations Contact
Dr. Sarah Fakih, Vice President Investor Relations
CureVac, T bingen, Germany
T: +49 7071 9883-1298
M: +49 160 90 496949
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that constitute
"forward looking statements" as that term is defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995, including statements that express the opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or
projections of CureVac (the "company") regarding future events or future results, in contrast with statements
that reflect historical facts. Examples include discussion of the potential efficacy of the company's vaccine candidate
and the company's strategies, financing plans, growth opportunities and market growth. In some cases, you can identify
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"intend," or "should," the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements
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However, these forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of the company's performance, and you should not place
undue reliance on such statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties and other variable
circumstances, including negative worldwide economic conditions and ongoing instability and volatility in the worldwide
financial markets, ability to obtain funding, ability to conduct current and future preclinical studies and clinical trials,
the timing, expense and uncertainty of regulatory approval, reliance on third parties and collaboration partners, ability to
commercialize products, ability to manufacture any products, possible changes in current and proposed legislation,
regulations and governmental policies, pressures from increasing competition and consolidation in the company's
industry, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company's business and results of operations, ability to manage
growth, reliance on key personnel, reliance on intellectual property protection, ability to provide for patient safety, and
fluctuations of operating results due to the effect of exchange rates or other factors. Such risks and uncertainties may
cause the statements to be inaccurate and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Many of these
risks are outside of the company's control and could cause its actual results to differ materially from those it