{"id":288371,"date":"2021-07-01T10:37:49","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T07:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/covid-vaccine-from-germanys-curevac-just-48-effective\/"},"modified":"2021-07-01T10:37:49","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T07:37:49","slug":"covid-vaccine-from-germanys-curevac-just-48-effective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/covid-vaccine-from-germanys-curevac-just-48-effective\/","title":{"rendered":"#COVID vaccine from Germany’s CureVac just 48% effective"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#COVID vaccine from Germany’s CureVac just 48% effective<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"The
\n The company said it was already working on a second-generation vaccine.
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Germany’s CureVac said Wednesday that final trial results showed its coronavirus vaccine had an efficacy rate of just 48 percent, far lower than those developed by mRNA rivals BioNTech\/Pfizer and Moderna.\n <\/p>\n

The outcome had been expected after poor interim data were released earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The company in part blamed “the unprecedented context of 15 strains circulating” among the trial volunteers, as well as varying responses across age groups.<\/p>\n

The COVID vaccines developed by Germany’s BioNTech in partnership with US giant Pfizer and by US firm Moderna\u2014based on the same novel messenger RNA technology<\/a>\u2014were app<\/a>roved earlier on in the pandemic after showing around 95 percent efficacy.<\/p>\n

Their trials only had to contend with the original strain of the virus. But recent studies indicate that both vaccines also offer strong protection against the newer, more contagious variants.<\/p>\n

CureVac said its jab, known as CVnCoV, did slightly better among people aged 18 to 60 than among older ages, with efficacy climbing to 53 percent. <\/p>\n

Among that same 18-60 age group, the vaccine offered 100-percent protection against hospitalisation and death.<\/p>\n

In a statement, chief executive officer Franz-Werner Haas said “CVnCoV demonstrates a strong public health value” for people aged 18 to 60 “which we believe will be an important contribution to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic and the dynamic variant spread”.<\/p>\n

‘No safety concerns’<\/b><\/p>\n

CureVac’s late-stage Phase 2b\/3 trial involved some 40,000 people in 10 countries in Europe and Latin America. Of those, 228 contracted the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

CureVac said in May that independent analysis “found no safety concerns” with its two-dose vaccine. <\/p>\n

The Tuebingen-based company has shared its data with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which will now decide if the vaccine is good enough to be greenlit.<\/p>\n

CureVac said it would give further details at a press conference on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Its share price fell by nearly 10 percent in after-hours trading.<\/p>\n

The European Union has secured up to 405 million doses of the CureVac vaccine should it receive regulatory approval.<\/p>\n

Despite being a laggard in the vaccine race, CureVac believes it has advantages over mRNA competitors.<\/p>\n

CureVac’s product can be stored at standard refrigerator temperature, unlike the first-generation Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which require super-cold freezers.<\/p>\n

CureVac’s vaccine also requires a lower dosage of just 12 microgrammes, compared to 30 microgrammes for BioNTech and 100 for Moderna, allowing for faster and cheaper mass production.<\/p>\n

These factors could possibly give CureVac an edge in poorer or warmer countries.<\/p>\n

2nd-generation vaccine in development<\/b><\/p>\n

Scientists have said the weaker-than-hoped results may be down to the lower dosage, or even CureVac’s recipe, which unlike its rivals uses an unmodified form of messenger RNA.<\/p>\n

The company is already working on a second-generation COVID vaccine for which it has teamed up with pharma giant GSK.<\/p>\n

Early results on rats have been promising, it said. Clinical testing on humans is set to begin in the third quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n

CureVac was founded in 2000 by mRNA pioneer Ingmar Hoerr and is backed by Dietmar Hopp, the German billionaire behind software behemoth SAP.<\/p>\n

The German government last year took a 23-percent stake in CureVac for 300 million euros.<\/p>\n

The move came shortly after media<\/a> reports said then President Donald Trump had sought exclusive US access to any CureVac vaccine, a claim both sides strenuously denied.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Interim trial data shows low effectiveness for CureVac shot\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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\n COVID vaccine from Germany’s CureVac just 48% effective (2021, July 1)
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