The European Union wants to shake up its COVID-19 vaccination game plan after a turbulent start to the launch, presenting an opportune time for developer CureVac mRNA vaccine to enter the scene. With a potential market debut in the coming months, biotechnology has already begun vaccine production.
CureVac, which has begun an ongoing process of reviewing its two-dose vaccine with the European Medicines Agency, plans to publish the results of the trial in recent weeks in the coming weeks, Franz’s CEO said on Thursday -Werner Haas on a call with analysts. According to the results, the company expects EU clearance for its firing, CVnCoV, to arrive in early June, Haas told CNBC last week.
The company’s most critical phase 2/3 trials are already fully enrolled, Haas said Thursday. The data produced should be sufficient for the company to complete its application with the EMA in the second quarter.
Tübingen’s biotechnology, based in Germany, has several European partners helping to produce its shot, including GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and Novartis. Now, the company expects production of 1 billion doses in 2022, up from its previous estimate of 600 million, Haas said.
Meanwhile, for this year, CureVac plans to produce 300 million doses of CVnCoV. Europe has already claimed 225 million initial doses, with an option for an additional 180 million under a supply agreement signed last year.
“We are already producing high-risk CVnCoV doses to easily supply CVnCoV at the time of a potential market authorization,” Haas said Thursday.
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The timing of the CureVac vaccine is crucial for Europe, which has stumbled upon administering punctures from AstraZeneca and J&J following reports of rare and severe blood clots. J&J stopped delivering vaccines to the EU earlier this week following a recommendation by major US health agencies to suspend firing while experts were investigating the cases.
The decision baffled European officials who called for more clarification on the “completely unexpected” announcement, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Subsequently, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reported on Wednesday that the commission chose not to renew its vaccine contracts with AstraZeneca and J&J once they expire at the end of the year.
The bloc is now likely to rely more on mRNA vaccines, a source in the Italian health ministry told the newspaper. On Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Pfizer will supply the block with an additional 50 million doses during the second quarter of this year. More supply deals could arrive, von der Leyen said.
Although CureVac’s dose shooting goes a few months behind those produced by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, its storage requirements are not as strict as authorized mRNA shots.
“Many more vaccines are needed than are available, and we are certainly talking … mainly with governments, but also with international organizations,” Haas said, referring to COVAX, the global vaccine distribution effort that seeks to deploy doses in low-income countries.
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Since clinical trials in the final phase of the vaccine began in December as variants of Sars-CoV-2 began to emerge, these mutations are likely to affect the results, said Ulrike Gnad-Vogt, interim director, in the call. of CureVac development. The company is also testing their shot next to a flu vaccine to determine if they are compatible, Gnad-Vogt said.