US tries to buy exclusive German firm's low-dose coronavirus vaccine research
US President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure the company 'CureVac' to the United States
GERMANY (Reuters) - Germany is trying to stop Washington from persuading a local company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.
Germany’s Health Ministry confirmed a report in newspaper Welt am Sonntag, which said President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure the company CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.
"The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe," the newspaper quoted a Health Ministry official as saying. "In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac." The German Health Ministry confirmed the report to Reuters.
Welt am Sonntag quoted an unidentified German government source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists’ work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States, "but only for the United States."
There was no comment immediately available from the U.S. embassy in Berlin, and nobody was available to comment at CureVac. Welt am Sonntag said CureVac declined to comment.
Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac’s chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week the company had started with a multitude of coronavirus vaccine candidates and was now selecting the two best to go into clinical trials.
The privately-held company based in Tuebingen, Germany hopes to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.
CureVac, among the vaccine developers funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), said it could mass-produce a coronavirus immunisation from its existing facilities if its low-dose approach proves successful in trials.
Privately held Curevac, which was granted up to $8.3 million by CEPI in January, is working to draw on its low-dose vaccine technology, which has showed promise in an early-stage rabies trial, for use against the coronavirus.
The Tuebingen-based company to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.
Von der Muelbe told Reuters a mode of action that allowed for a low dosage to trigger an immune reaction against rabies would also be applied in the coronavirus setting. He said up to 10 million doses per production campaign could be produced.
A campaign, or production cycle, typically lasts several weeks, a spokesman specified. More than one dose may be required to immunise a person but one campaign would still serve several million people, he added.
CureVac specialises in so-called messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that instruct human cells to produce therapeutic proteins that trigger an immune response against cancer or infectious diseases.
In that field, it competes with U.S. biotech firm Moderna, which is also receiving CEPI funding, and German rival BioNTech, which Pfizer has identified as a potential collaboration partner.
Top U.S. health officials have said that it would take up to 18 months to develop any vaccine against the pathogen.
