[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] German biotech company CureVac has stated that if its ongoing COVID-19 vaccine development fails, it will allow its partners to manufacture other vaccines.
On the 17th (local time), Franz-Werner Haas, CEO of CureVac, said in an interview with a foreign media outlet, "We are collaborating with an entire network of excellent partners," adding, "Of course, if we fail to develop the product and cannot use these facilities, the partners are naturally allowed to produce other products."
He also revealed that CureVac is still awaiting the final clinical trial results and is working to obtain regulatory approval.
Currently, CureVac has manufacturing partnerships with Swiss Celonic Group and Novartis, German Bayer and Wacker, and French Pareva.
CureVac explained that even if it cannot properly utilize its partners' facilities, it will prioritize the second-generation vaccine currently being developed with the UK’s GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) targeting new variant viruses.
Experts estimate that CureVac’s partners would need at least six weeks or more to switch facilities to produce other messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines such as Pfizer or Moderna.
Since CureVac’s manufacturing partners are mainly located in Germany and Austria, it is more likely that the German company BioNTech, which jointly developed the vaccine with Pfizer, will produce the vaccines.
CEO Haas’s remarks appear to be due to growing concerns that the vaccine development might fail following interim results showing CureVac’s vaccine efficacy falling short of expectations.
Following Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, CureVac’s vaccine had been anticipated as the third mRNA vaccine, but recent interim clinical trial analyses announced that its efficacy was below 50%.
On the 16th, CureVac announced that in clinical trials involving 40,000 volunteers in Europe and South America, the interim analysis showed its vaccine efficacy was only 47%.
This is lower than CureVac’s own target as well as the level accepted by the international health community.
Before COVID-19 vaccines were developed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expected at least 50% efficacy. The World Health Organization (WHO) also stated that a minimum of 70% efficacy is required.
CureVac reported that its vaccine was effective in younger populations but did not show sufficient efficacy in those aged 60 and above.
The main cause for the lower-than-expected efficacy was attributed to the spread of variant viruses.
Following these interim analysis results, CureVac’s stock price plummeted, causing the company’s valuation to decrease by billions of dollars.
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