CureVac Story of a disappointed hope

Status: 06/17/2021 8:30 p.m.

While the world is now being vaccinated with BioNTech, the vaccine from CureVac has proven to be ineffective. How could the two great German hopefuls develop so differently?

By Thomas Aders and Sebastian Deliga, SWR

At first it was a German head-to-head race between the Mainz-based pharmaceutical company BioNTech and the Tübingen researchers from CureVac. Both use the same technology “Messenger RNA”, the share prices of both companies initially took off on the stock exchanges, and both have professional and global partners. The Mainz-based company was able to bring the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on board, while the Tübingen-based company found what they were looking for at Bayer. And not only that: At the beginning of September, a man came to visit Tübingen, whose name makes technology enthusiasts, e-mobility enthusiasts and stock market speculators enthusiastic: Tesla boss Elon Musk. Even before he paid his respects to Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, he stopped by CureVac. For the production of their vaccines, the people of Tübingen used the technology of the medium-sized company Grohmann in the Eifel, which in turn has been part of the Tesla empire since 2017.

The field of support from both companies was also in competition: in Tübingen, SAP boss Dietmar Hopp became the majority owner, in Mainz the twins Thomas and Andreas Strüngmann, who had become rich in the pharmaceutical business, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were behind BioNTech boss Ugur Sahin. From the outside, it was still the duel between digitization pioneer Hopp and oncology professor Sahin. Both were believed to be successful.

But since the beginning of 2021, the people of Baden-Württemberg have stumbled in the race against the Rhineland-Palatinate; while the BioNTech drug was approved by the authorities, CureVac has still not fully completed the third phase of its vaccine testing. Today’s publication of the inferior efficacy of the Tübingen vaccine candidate CVnCOV of only 47 percent – in contrast to 90 percent for BioNTech / Pfizer – was the end of hopes for mass production soon and the end of hopes for strong profits on the stock market; the price of CureVac has more than halved.

Why does the vaccine protect so poorly against Covid-19?

When the Tübingen-based company delayed the crucial phase 3 and tested the vaccine, there were already several mutations of the corona virus. That made research much more difficult. Virologist Martin Stürmer from the University of Frankfurt also sees this as one of the problems: “BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Co. – they only had to deal with B.1.1.7 (the Alpha variant, first developed in England).” In addition, it was the Tübingen’s unwritten law to administer RNA as pure as possible and not chemically treated. This also had fatal consequences for CureVac, because the competition achieved a much higher concentration by modifying the messenger RNA. The head of the CureVac vaccination study, Peter Kremsner: “BioNTech and Moderna were able to dose three to ten times as high because they chemically changed the RNA. At CureVac, the dogma was that the RNA should be injected as unchanged as possible, which is basically correct, but unfortunately it did not work.” The goal of the Tübingen was a noble one. And the SPD politician and epidemiologist Karl Lauterbach is talking about the company’s fate today tagesschau.de “terribly sorry”. He always admired the particularly ethical and moral standards of the Tübingen population. But Lauterbach no longer sees any basis for hope either. Even if CureVac starts all over again, the competitors from BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson, for example, have made further progress in their research. So the Tübingen train left for many.

What does this mean for the vaccination campaign in Germany and Europe?

Epidemiologist Lauterbach very much regrets the bitter fate of CureVac, but he sees the German vaccination campaign as hardly endangered in the Tübingen disaster. Several other vaccines worked to a great extent in his opinion, and in his view today’s setback would result in a delay of no more than three weeks. “By the end of September we will probably have a vaccination rate of 70 percent, and thus herd immunity.” The Federal Ministry of Health is also anything but panicked. Got the latest news about CureVac “no impact on the pace of our vaccination campaign”. Brussels does not want to comment directly on the CureVac disaster, that is a matter for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam, which decides on the approval of vaccine preparations. However, the EU has apparently taken precautions in the event that CureVac fails: The contract with the Tübingen region includes “Termination clauses in the event that the vaccine is not approved by the EMA”. There are also rather composed comments from Parliament: of course, the results at CureVac are inadequate “a big disappointment”, said MEP Peter Liese. “The goal of offering people in Germany and Europe a vaccination offer by the end of the summer is still realistic.” This is due to the positive developments at BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson. Additional information is interesting in Peter Liese’s statement: CureVac CEO Franz-Werner Haas had already promised him in December that his company would work with other manufacturers, “if your vaccine doesn’t work”. With today’s publication of this conversation note, the pressure on the Tübingen-based company and its partner Bayer should now have increased rapidly to cooperate quickly with successful competitors from Mainz and to convert their own capacities to the production of BioNTech.

Did the state lose money promoting CureVac?

“The federal government is participating in this promising company because it expects it to accelerate developments and to enable CureVac financially to exploit the potential of its technology.” Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier said that almost exactly a year ago. The federal government then invested 300 million euros in the Tübingen-based company. In addition, there was the Federal Ministry of Research, which made a commitment for funding of 251.6 million euros.

All in all, a good half a billion euros. So is the money gone now? The answer: only in part. On the one hand, the federal government received a share in the company for its investment. And although CureVac’s price has slumped by more than half today, the value of that portion is still likely to be significantly higher than when the company went public. And on the other hand, of the promised 251.6 million, only 102.8 million euros have actually flowed so far, as the Ministry of Research tagesschau.de confirmed today. The rest will probably be withheld as the payout “depending on the progress of the project” is. Regardless of the possible “Losses” The question arises, however, what would have happened if the federal government had not invested a cent in promising companies such as CureVac or BioNTech. An outcry would probably have gone through the republic, even though an alleged takeover offer by ex-US President Donald Trump turned out to be a hoax. The situation in the crisis year 2020 was dramatic, according to SPD health expert Lauterbach. “It was an extremely noble attempt by our German companies to develop a new type of Covid vaccine and make it available to the whole world. The investments were right, although in the case of CureVac there was no success.”

CureVac vaccine not very effective Crash of a Bearer of hope

Status: 06/17/2021 12:31 p.m.

CureVac’s vaccine proves far less effective than hoped, with the biotech company’s stock plummeting. What does this mean for the vaccination campaign and German taxpayers?

From Angela Göpfert, tagesschau.de

For the company CureVac and its owners, dramatic scenes have taken place in the past few hours. The price of the Tübingen-based company listed on the US technology exchange Nasdaq had already halved in after-hours trading on the US stock exchange on Wednesday. This morning, the CureVac share then rushed in German retail by up to 52.4 percent.

Eight billion euros destroyed on the stock exchange

This destroyed around eight billion euros in market value within a few minutes. This melted down from over 15 to a good seven billion euros. The drastic course reaction shows how surprisingly, despite all previous doubts, such devastating study data as CureVac has now presented, came in the end – and how serious the consequences could be.

On Wednesday night, CureVac announced that its first-generation vaccine candidate was CVnCoV only an effectiveness of 47 percent against a Covid 19 disease of any severity. The company thus missed the intended statistical success criteria for approval.

Completely out of the vaccination campaign?

The study is to be continued, and the degree of effectiveness could change with higher case numbers. However, if the current trend continues, approval is unlikely. In this case, experts say CVnCoV would be a total flop for the company. For the German vaccination campaign, CureVac is therefore canceled until further notice. “According to these study results, it will be extremely difficult for CureVac to play a role at all in the current vaccination campaign”, told LBBW analyst Timo Kürschner tagesschau.de . According to the federal government, the setback for the Tübingen company does not upset the vaccinations in Germany. “This announcement has no effect on the speed of our vaccination campaign”said a spokesman for the federal health ministry.

Other manufacturers are still catching up

Industry observers believe that speed is just as important in vaccine development as it is in drug development. “Late bloomers like CureVac only have a chance if they have a better effect profile or fewer side effects”, explains pharmaceutical expert Kürschner.

“The more time that elapses, the more efficient the production of vaccines that have already been approved will be”says the pharmaceutical expert. “BioNTech & Co. are then more and more able to serve the required delivery quantities.” His conclusion: “We could get to a point where you actually no longer need the CureVac vaccine because the vaccination campaign is already so advanced.”

Hundreds of millions from the federal government

The severe setback for CureVac meanwhile has effects beyond the current vaccination campaign. It meets the German taxpayers – after all, the federal government has a stake of around 16 percent in the company and has supported vaccine development with a special program worth several hundred million euros. It is also a debacle for SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp, who holds almost 50 percent of the shares.

Last but not least, the CureVac price disaster hits the countless private investors who have invested their money in the share. The paper of the company, which is legally based in the Netherlands, has been one of the most traded foreign stocks in the past few weeks on the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, where many private investors cavort.

Recently increased warning signs

Recently, there had been more and more indications that the CureVac vaccine could fail for the time being. Even when Health Minister Jens Spahn, according to media reports, deleted CureVac from the federal government’s planning for the current vaccination campaign, this could hardly affect the share.

The high market capitalization compared to rival companies was also a warning sign: Before the current price crash, CureVac had a higher market value than Novavax. The US manufacturer had already reported a Phase III study on Monday, according to which its vaccine had a has a high effectiveness of 90 percent .

Often high risk in the industry

For CureVac and its owners this is now the “Worst case” of a biotech company. At the same time, the CureVac case also shows the general risks facing the industry. Companies in this industry usually have very few active ingredients in their pipeline. If one then fails – for whatever reason – it often has fatal consequences for the entire company.

LBBW expert Kürschner also sees CureVac “a prime example of the risks involved in investing in biotech companies”. However, Kürschner does not fear negative consequences of the CureVac events for the German biotech industry. After all, there is a positive counterexample in the country. “I’m sure: BioNTech’s success story will outshine the rather negative course at CureVac.”

If you’ve been training hard but it doesn’t work, that’s one of the signs that you’re doing it wrong and should be corrected so as not to waste time. Exercising with intensity but without a plan will make the body tired. Photo: Snhfoto. No long term plan This has to do with what’s known as HADD, which stands for attention-deficit disorder. It happens because people change exercises too often and without a particular plan or focus. GQ It is said that repeating the same movement even if it is boring will complete the exercise and get in shape faster. At the same time, it helps you gain strength, muscle. While a variety of exercises is the key to good results, changing too often will prevent you from reaping the benefits. Experts recommend sticking to one exercise for at least 2-3 weeks, analyzing how many reps you can perform and how much weight you want to lift to see your progress. Besides, you must have a combination of exercises to accelerate weight loss and muscle gain. You need to repeat the movements for a long time for the body to adapt. Photo: Body. Too much exercise Experts say everyone’s body has a limit on the number of effective workouts. Therefore, overtraining is not the fastest way to achieve results and can cause injury. It is important that you do enough warm-up and the right sequence of steps in the exercise. Repeat the exact same exercises and change the time to increase the amount of time each day so that your body can adapt and limit fatigue. Extra exercise There are many exercises that are not effective for the body. So make sure you do them as directed by your coach to avoid losing time. Some exercises or movements do not have much effect on weight loss and muscle gain. They are even potentially dangerous if you do not do them correctly at home. Exercises with weights require the supervision of a trainer to ensure safety. Photo: Self. Overhead barbell squats : Squat while lifting weights can help you look like a bodybuilder. However, this exercise has many potential risks of injury to the spine, hands and head. While it’s not “useless”, people don’t yet have the necessary skills to do it right. Walking on the treadmill: If you are a fan and regularly use this exercise, change the speed and intensity of the machine continuously. You should start warming up for the first 5 minutes at a slow pace to get the blood circulating. Then gradually increase the speed for the body to adapt. This change helps the body to expend energy instead of being stuck on the machine without seeing results. Exercises to help men have 6 pack abs Exercises that affect the abdomen, which can be done at home, help men build muscle.

Judgment on Presale Fees Defeat for ticket retailer CTS Eventim

As of: 06/09/2021 5:24 p.m.

Are ticket retailers allowed to keep advance booking fees for concerts that have been canceled due to corona? The Munich Regional Court has declared a clause ineffective that excludes a refund. However, there is no general claim. Several CTS Eventim customers are upset. You had booked a concert at the ticket dealer early on, which was then canceled due to Corona. Nevertheless, CTS Eventim withheld the advance booking fee. Now they want the fee back. The North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center therefore took it to court and sued the company. With success: the consumer advocates were partially right at the Munich I Regional Court. The judges declared ineffective a clause in which the company had excluded a reimbursement of the advance booking fee if the event was canceled or postponed. A corresponding sentence in the general terms and conditions is illegal.

It depends on the contracts

In the opinion of the court, the ticket retailer must bear the risk of an event alone and should not pass costs on to the customers if the event does not take place. After all, the dealer collects a commission if an event goes off successfully, the judges argue. In addition, the amount of the advance booking fee is often not visible in the ticket prices, the court complained. This is not transparent. However, the judgment, which is not yet final, does not mean that all customers are now entitled to a refund of the advance booking fees for the concert that has been canceled due to Corona. That depends on the respective design of the contracts. CTS Eventim would only be responsible for the reimbursement at a commercial agency. Eventim arranges event tickets either through a commercial agency or through an organizer through a commission. In the latter case, the concert promoter would be responsible for the reimbursement. “We are assuming that in a large number of cases Eventim wrongly withheld amounts of money,” said Wolfgang Schuldzinski, board member of the consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia. Now those affected who are in dispute with the group could ask it to pay and refer to the judgment.

CTS Eventim suffers from the lull in concerts

The dispute over the advance booking fee shows how tense the situation in the concert event industry is. The largest German ticket retailer CTS Eventim is suffering from the unusual concerts and events. In the first quarter of this year, sales collapsed by almost 90 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The Bremen company slipped into the red. The number of employees including temporary workers fell by almost a third. Nevertheless, CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg does not give up hope of a new start soon. He relies on the “longing of people to experience culture together”. The more people vaccinated, the greater the chance of concerts.