Full Press Release Details
CureVac Partners with
myNEO to Identify Novel Antigen Targets for
mRNA-Based Cancer Vaccine Development
T BINGEN, Germany / GHENT, Belgium -
May 25, 2022 - CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global biopharmaceutical company
developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid ("mRNA"), and myNEO N.V., a Belgium-based
immunotherapy company, today announced that they have entered into a research and option agreement. Under the agreement, both companies
aim to identify specific antigens found on the surface of tumors for the development of novel mRNA immunotherapies. To achieve this goal,
myNEO will leverage its biological datasets and its integrated machine learning and bioinformatics platform to identify and validate specific
antigen targets predicted to elicit a strong immune response.
our mRNA technology insights and learnings to create value in oncology," said Antony Blanc, Chief Business Officer and Chief Commercial
Officer of CureVac. "myNEO's state-of-the-art predictive approach to analyze tumor and normal genetic data inputs from multiple
sources, perfectly complements our mRNA technology as we advance the development of novel cancer vaccines. Through this collaboration,
we prepare to build a strong pipeline in oncology and accelerate growth beyond our progress in prophylactic vaccines."
myNEO utilizes a broad range of underlying
genomic alterations to identify constantly emerging, novel classes of antigens of defined tumor types. The immunogenicity of identified antigens is predicted using proprietary algorithms, machine and deep learning methods and
an extensive database containing data on tumor specific mutations. Incorporating new ranking methodologies based on tumor cell antigen
processing and presentation allows for selection of antigens with the highest confidence of success for potential clinical
"CureVac is a front-runner
in the mRNA technology ecosystem, and its use for the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines has shown great promise," said
Cedric Bogaert, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of myNEO. "We're convinced that combining our innovative neoantigen
target identification and selection methods with mRNA technology holds great potential for immunotherapies, and CureVac was the logical
choice for us to further validate this avenue. Supplementing our own developments with this collaboration will allow us to benefit from
CureVac's years of experience and know-how, and to create a significant impact on the immunotherapy domain."
CureVac is a global biopharmaceutical
company in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, with more than 20 years of expertise in developing, optimizing, and manufacturing
this versatile biological molecule for medical purposes. The principle of CureVac's proprietary technology is the use of optimized
mRNA as a data carrier to instruct the human body to produce its own proteins capable of fighting a broad range of diseases. In July 2020,
CureVac entered in a collaboration with GSK to jointly develop new products in prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases based on
CureVac's second-generation mRNA technology. This collaboration was later extended to the development of second-generation COVID-19
vaccine candidates, and modified mRNA vaccine technologies. Based on its proprietary technology, CureVac 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 900 people
at its sites in T bingen, Frankfurt, and Boston, USA. Further information can be found at www.curevac.com.
myNEO is a Belgian biotech company that
focuses on the development of immunotherapies finetuned against the tumour of cancer patients. The core technology to its clinical
development is an advanced data analysis platform that allows to rapidly screen immuno-genomic datasets from enrolled patients and
their tumours. Data-driven neural networks trained on gathered biological datasets enable to identify impactful tumor alterations
and neoantigens as targets for immunotherapies, to finetune patient inclusion criteria, and define early biomarkers for potential
response. The growing company was founded by biotech entrepreneurs Cedric Bogaert, together with Professor Wim Van Criekinge and Jan
Van den Berghe. Professor MD Kris Thielemans, a pioneer in the field of immunotherapy, Mark Vaeck, founder and former CEO of
biopharmaceutical company Ablynx, and Bert Coessens, founder and former COO of Cartagenia, are also involved. Read more at:
CureVac Investor Relations Contact
Dr. Sarah Fakih, Vice President Corporate
Communications and Investor Relations
CureVac, T bingen, Germany
T: +49 7071 9883-1298
M: +49 160 90 496949
CureVac Media Contact
Bettina J dicke-Braas, Manager Communications
CureVac, T bingen, Germany
myNEO, Ghent, Belgium
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