CureVac shares fell as much as 52% on Thursday, after the German biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine showed just 47% efficacy in an initial trial.
The development of CureVac is based on Messenger RNA technology, the same used by vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna laboratories, which reach 95% efficiency, which hits the confidence of CureVac investors about the capacity of the signs to compete with established rivals.
The disappointing efficacy of the injection known as CVnCoV was determined from preliminary analysis of a study among some 40,000 volunteers in Europe and Latin America. CureVac said Wednesday that the new variants proved a roadblock.
The advanced stage trials of the BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were conducted when the original version of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was dominant. Data on their products, however, has suggested only slightly weaker protection against the newer variants.
“This could raise questions about the competitiveness of its mRNA platform,” Jefferies said in a research note on the CureVac study.
Before the close of the day, CureVac shares fell 41.7% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany, to 46.3 euros, its lowest level since November 2020 and erasing more than 6 billion euros from the company’s market value.
The firm was one of the first to launch in the vaccine race and until recently was planning to launch an effective drug in May or June of this year. If the final efficacy does not improve, a commercialization seems unlikely, according to the experts.
The head of the vaccination strategy at the European Medicines Agency, Marco Cavaleri, called for caution even if the drug does not reach the 50% minimum efficacy required.
The European Commission concluded a contract with the laboratory in Tübingen (southern Germany) to acquire 405 million doses.
The announcement from the laboratory “has no impact on the pace of our vaccination campaign,” commented the German Ministry of Health.
Founded in 2000, CureVac counts as its main shareholder the German millionaire Dietmar Hopp, co-founder of the programming giant SAP.
At the end of June 2020, the German government bought a 23% stake in the laboratory for 300 million euros, following an attempt by the US authorities to secure exclusive rights to a potential Curevac vaccine.
With information from Reuters and AFP.
