* CureVac says 450 mln eur from EU is non-refundable
* Trials showed 47% efficacy for original vaccine
* Move means vaccine supply deal with EU ends
* CureVac shares sink almost 14%
(Adds details on EU deal, research focus)
By Zuzanna Szymanska and Ludwig Burger
Oct 12 (Reuters) - CureVac NV said on Tuesday it
will give up on its first-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate
and instead focus on collaborating with GSK to develop
improved mRNA vaccine technology.
The German biotechnology company's shares were off about 8%
after earlier plunging as much as 13%, hitting their lowest
since going public in August last year.
CureVac said it would abandon its application for approval
from the European Medicines Agency for its first COVID-19
vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, after late-stage trials delivered
disappointing results https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/curevacs-covid-19-vaccine-misses-efficacy-goal-mass-trial-2021-06-16
in June with 47% efficacy.
Abandoning the vaccine will avoid a potential overlap with
approval timelines for its most advanced second-generation
candidates, it said. The move also allows the company to focus
on the race for new variant-specific vaccines, and for
combination shots that prevent two or more infectious diseases.
That will also see it try a technology employed by more
successful rival BioNTech SE, which modified the
nucleosides - the molecules that determine the mRNA’s genetic
code - to shield the vaccine against immune system attacks.
CureVac had previously banked on non-modified mRNA.
The earliest potential approval of CVnCoV would have come in
the second quarter of 2022, when candidates from the
second-generation vaccine programme were expected to progress to
late-stage clinical development, CureVac said.
"In the ongoing transition from acute pandemic to endemic,
our decision ... reflects expected changes in public health
needs that our second generation can potentially address,” said
Chief Executive Franz-Werner Haas.
The agreement CureVac signed to sell shots to the European
Union will end, with no obligation to repay the 450 million
euros ($519 million) received from the bloc, the company
said.
The EU commission did not immediately reply to a request for
comment on refunding clauses in the contract.
Financial commitments to contract manufacturers would be
made public over the next few weeks, but any such burdens were
minor, Haas said on call with reporters.
CureVac cancelled deals last month with two prospective
contractors to make CVnCoV. It said it would seek to repurpose
the remaining infrastructure for future products.
Human trials for its second-generation shot could start in
coming months, with any regulatory approval seen in 2022. Animal
trials so far showed them to be superior to CureVac's original
COVID-19 vaccine.
The shot is the latest casualty in the drug industry's race
to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus, which has killed
more than 5 million people and infected more than 238 million.
French drugmaker Sanofi SA also dropped plans for
its own mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine last month because of the
dominance achieved by BioNTech with U.S. partner Pfizer Inc
and Moderna Inc with shots using the
technology.
Instead, it will pursue the technology, acquired as part of
its takeover of Translate Bio, in potential vaccines
against influenza and other diseases.
($1 = 0.8670 euros)
(Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska, Josephine Mason, Ludwig Burger
and Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Louise Heavens, Edmund Blair
and Bill Berkrot)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)