Germany Boosts Investment in Covid-19 Vaccine Research
September 15 2020 - 8:46AM
Dow Jones News
By Bojan Pancevski
The German government said Tuesday it would pour EUR750 million
in grants into three local companies developing coronavirus
vaccines, bringing Berlin's total bet on such research to more than
EUR1 billion, as nations race to develop an inoculant that would
halt the spread of the pandemic.
Half of the funds -- EUR375 million -- will go to BioNTech SE,
which has teamed up with the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.
to develop a Covid-19 vaccine that is now in the final stage of
testing and could be submitted for regulatory approval between
October and December, according to the company.
The rest will go to CureVac NV, which will receive EUR230
million, and IDT Biologika, which is still negotiating the exact
amount. Curevac, which is completing the first stage of clinical
trials, already received EUR300 million in equity from Berlin and a
grant of around EUR75 million from European Union institutions.
Shares in BioNTech were up 4.27% to EUR59.1 and shares in
CureVac up 3.13% to EUR46.1 in early afternoon trading in
Europe.
The companies said that they would use the nonrepayable grants
to scale up their production capacities and expand the clinical
trials of their vaccine candidates.
BioNTech and CureVac, which originally focused on cancer
treatment, are using a novel and as yet untested technology known
as mRNA, while IDT Biologika is relying on a more traditional
method. Traditional vaccine development typically works by
introducing an inactivated or weakened form of the virus or its
proteins into the human body to elicit an immune reaction. mRNA
inoculation would program the body to create certain proteins that
can fend off the pathogen.
As a condition for the grants, the companies pledged to make an
appropriate amount of doses available in Germany, Anja Karliczek,
Germany's education and research minister, told a news conference.
She didn't specify how many doses would be considered
appropriate.
Germany's government wouldn't encourage companies to take any
shortcuts in their trials, and it hoped other governments wouldn't
either, Ms. Karliczek, whose ministry provided the funding,
added.
Russia faced international criticism after saying it would
approve a vaccine that had yet to go through clinical trials for
broad usage.
"The funding is an important contribution to accelerating the
development and scaling-up of our Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing
capacities in Germany," said Prof. Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-founder
of BioNTech.
Dr. Franz-Werner Haas, CureVac CEO, said that the grant would
help advance his company's work on their vaccine candidate. "Given
the significant costs related to the development of a safe and
effective vaccine as well as to the extension of the manufacturing
capacity, we believe that this grant can substantially support our
efforts to produce and develop a safe and effective vaccine in high
volume as quickly as possible," Dr. Haas said.
BioNTech will use the newly gained grants to expand its
manufacturing capacities in Germany and increase the number of
participants in its final-stage clinical trials from 30,000 to
44,000 volunteers, pending approval from medical authorities, a
spokeswoman for the company said
BioNTech and Pfizer are conducting contract negotiations with
the European Commission, EU's executive body, for a proposed supply
of 200 million doses of their vaccine, with an option for a further
100 million doses, according to the companies. The two companies
already signed a deal with the U.S. government to provide 100
million doses, with an option for another 500 million. Both deals
are subject to regulatory approval by the respective
authorities.
Meanwhile, CureVac and the EU are in advanced discussions for a
potential deal to supply 225 million doses of the company's
vaccine, according to the company.
IDT Biologika is still at an early stage of developing its
vaccine candidate.
Write to Bojan Pancevski at bojan.pancevski@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 15, 2020 08:31 ET (12:31 GMT)
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