CureVac

CureVac N.V.
Company typePublic
NasdaqCVAC
IndustryBiotechnology
Founded2000; 24 years ago (2000)
FoundersIngmar Hoerr,[1] Steve Pascolo, Florian von der Muelbe, Günther Jung and Hans-Georg Rammensee
HeadquartersTübingen, Germany
Key people
Franz-Werner Haas (CEO)
Total equity
  • €1.40 billion (October 2017)
Number of employees
< 700[2]
Websitewww.curevac.com
Headquarters of CureVac in Tübingen

CureVac N.V. is a German biopharmaceutical company. It develops therapies based on messenger RNA (mRNA). Headquartered in Tübingen, Germany, the company was founded in 2000 by Ingmar Hoerr (CEO), Steve Pascolo (CSO), Florian von der Mulbe (COO), Günther Jung, and Hans-Georg Rammensee. CureVac has had approximately 375 employees since May 2018.[2]

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, CureVac was an early starter in the race to develop a German vaccine for protection against COVID-19, a disease caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.[3] Clinical trials for the CureVac COVID-19 Vaccine (CVnCoV) began in June 2020, and in the same month, the German Federal Government invested €300 million in CureVac, with one of the terms of the agreement being that KfW will hold a stake of approximately 23% in the company.[3][4][5] In June 2021 the company announced that CVnCoV displayed inadequate results in Phase III clinical trials with only 47% efficacy.[6] In October 2021, the company announced it would be abandon further research and development into CVnCoV and would instead focus its efforts in collaborating with GSK to develop improved mRNA vaccine technology.[7][8]

The company's focus is on developing vaccines for infectious diseases and drugs to treat cancer and rare diseases. CureVac has entered into various collaborations with organizations, including agreements with Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi Pasteur, Johnson & Johnson, Genmab, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline,[9][10] Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative,[11] and the government of Germany.[12]

  1. ^ "CureVac Announces New Management Structure" (Press release). Curevac. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Company Information". Curevac. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b Miller, Joe; Chazan, Guy; Cookson, Clive (15 June 2020). "Berlin to buy stake in Covid-19 vaccine player CureVac". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  4. ^ Sovereign (15 June 2020). "German Federal Government invests 300 Million Euros in CureVac". CureVac. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  5. ^ "German government invests in the development of a vaccine". Website of the Federal Government | Bundesregierung. 17 June 2020. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  6. ^ Cohen, John (18 June 2021). "What went wrong with CureVac's highly anticipated new mRNA vaccine for COVID-19?". Science.org. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  7. ^ Szymanska, Zuzanna; Burger, Ludwig (12 October 2021). "CureVac drops COVID-19 vaccine, pins hope on next-generation shots". Reuters. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  8. ^ Solomon, Erika; Kuchler, Hannah (12 October 2021). "CureVac drops Covid vaccine to focus on new jab with GSK". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  9. ^ Carroll, John (18 October 2017). "Eli Lilly is making a $1.8B leap into the mRNA field, targeting next-gen cancer vaccines". endpts.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  10. ^ Aripaka, Pushkala; Schuetze, Arno (19 July 2020). "GSK buys 10% of CureVac in vaccine tech deal". Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  11. ^ "CureVac Opens up an mRNA Hub in Moderna's Cambridge Backyard". 10 September 2015. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference dw was invoked but never defined (see the help page).