The deal, worth over € 150 million, is the latest in a series of moves in which major competing vaccine manufacturers join forces to counter the pandemic
by Francesca Cerati
The deal, worth over € 150 million, is the latest in a series of moves in which major competing vaccine manufacturers join forces to counter the pandemic
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A new alliance is launched to deal with Covid-19. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that it is collaborating with German biotechnology CureVac to produce the latter’s messenger RNA vaccine (which has also recently entered into an agreement with Bayer) and to jointly develop another one to target the new variants of Sars-CoV-2. The agreement, worth more than 150 million euros, is the latest in a series of moves in which major vaccine manufacturers are partnering with competitors to help them make Covid-19 vaccines.
The deal: 100 million doses and development of a new generation
Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will produce up to 100 million doses of the vaccine currently under development by CureVac, currently in Phase 2b / 3 clinical trials. But the two companies will also develop a new multivalent generation, which means it will protect against different strains of the virus. If it works, companies hope to be able to launch it in 2022.
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“We believe that the new generation vaccines will be crucial in the continuing fight against Covid-19 -, said Emma Walmsley, CEO of GSK – in a statement. This new partnership builds on our existing relationship with CureVac and it means that together, we will combine our scientific expertise in mRna and vaccine development to advance and accelerate the development of new Covid-19 vaccine candidates. At the same time, we will also support the production of CureVac’s first generation vaccines with the production of 100 million doses in 2021 “.
GSK said next-generation Covid vaccines can be used to protect people who have not been vaccinated previously or act as stimulators in case immunity induced by first-generation vaccines has become ineffective with respect to the evolution of the virus. .
CureVac: 35 thousand people involved in the operation
CureVac plans to enroll 35 thousand people aged 18 or over in the trial, which is being conducted in Europe and Latin America. He’s testing a two-dose vaccine. The company says it expects to have the first data by the first quarter of this year. The advantage of CureVac’s candidate vaccine is that it can be stored for three months at refrigerator temperature, compared to vaccines from both Moderna and Pfizer, both of which have more complex cold chain requirements.