CureVac
nets EU funding to ramp up vaccine production
Send a link to a friend
[July 06, 2020]
BERLIN (Reuters) - German biotech company
CureVac, which is developing a potential COVID-19 vaccine, has secured a
75 million euro ($85 million) loan from the European Investment Bank to
boost its manufacturing capacity.
|
The company, which is planning an initial public offering in the
United States this month, said on Monday the loan will help it
invest in its so-called messenger RNA approach technology and help
it speed up construction of a fourth production site at its
headquarters in Tuebingen, Germany.
It is the second injection of new funding for the company in as many
months, after the German government invested 300 million euros in a
23% holding in the firm in June to aid the development of its
COVID-19 vaccine.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Aug/26/images/ads/current/directory_buttons.png)
CureVac, backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a pioneer
in the so-called messenger RNA approach, which is also being pursued
by BioNTech and its partner Pfizer as well as Moderna.
RNA molecules are single-stranded versions of the DNA double-helix.
Thanks to their recurring molecular pattern, they can be produced in
a relatively simple biochemical process that do not require
genetically modified living cells, which are needed to produce most
other biotech drugs.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Jul/06/images/ads/current/graue_preowned_062920.png)
"We are looking forward to expediting the completion of our industrial-scale
production site to provide critically needed supply of innovative mRNA-based
vaccines," CureVac's Chief Financial Officer Pierre Kemula said in a statement.
The financing will be provided in three 25 million euro tranches upon completion
of pre-defined milestones.
CureVac has started a phase I clinical trial of an experimental coronavirus
vaccine in Germany and Belgium, and has said the first meaningful results could
be available by September or October.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Jan Harvey)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |