GSK Strikes $1.5B+ Deal to Rescue mRNA Pioneer CureVac Amid Strategic Pivot

Jul 04, 2024 18:21 CST Updated 18:21

GSK

Pharmaceutical R&D Manufacturer

CureVac

mRNA Drug Developer

July 3,GSK announced that it will pay an upfront payment of 400 million euros (approximately 430 million US dollars),And make milestone payments of up to 1.05 billion euros (approximately 1.13 billion US dollars) based on the results;Acquire global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize CureVac's flu and COVID-19 vaccines。

CureVac Retains Exclusive Rights to Other Undisclosed and Preclinically Validated Infectious Disease Targets from Previous Collaboration Projects.
This licensing agreement will not affect GSK's 7% stake in CureVac.

CureVac, once one of the three giants in COVID-19 mRNA technology, is now facing large-scale layoffs and nearly depleted funds; the collaboration with GSK comes just in time.

After the news spread, CureVac's stock price surged 24%, hitting a near three-week high.

GSK is one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world.The cooperation between the two companies began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 2020, CureVac and GSK reached an infectious disease agreement. At that time, CureVac, as one of the biotechnology companies owning mRNA technology, was on the rise; GSK paid 120 million euros (approximately 129 million US dollars) in advance to obtain the rights to candidates outside Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
In 2021, GSK paid another 75 million euros (approximately 80.6 million US dollars) to share the costs and profits of CureVac's COVID-19 vaccine.

Through these collaborations, GSK and CureVac currently have candidate vaccines for diseases such as seasonal influenza in Phase 2 clinical trials, and candidate vaccines for avian influenza in Phase 1 clinical trials. All candidate vaccines are based on CureVac'sThe Second-Generation mRNA Technology PlatformDeveloped so far,The relevant data of these candidate vaccines is positive, demonstrating their potential to become a potential "best-in-class" novel vaccine.。

CureVac States It Will Cut About 30% of Jobs as It Focuses on mRNA-Based Cancer Therapies and Other Early-Stage Projects. CureVac Also Added,GSK's cash payment will extend the funds that should have been depleted by the end of 2025 to 2028.。

In April this year,CureVac proposed a "voluntary departure" plan, eliminating 150 positions in an effort to move past the困境of failing to commercialize its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic (the 150 positions are included in the 30% workforce reduction announced on Wednesday).

This collaboration also reflects GSK CEO Emma Walmsley'sFocus on vaccines and infectious diseases as a strategy to address patent expirations and the anticipated revenue decline of current blockbuster drugs by the end of this decade.。

GSKWill Promote Influenza Vaccines and COVID-19 VaccinesPhase II TrialDevelopment, as well as the development of avian influenza vaccines currently in phase I or early trials.

CureVacThe remaining staff will advance the product pipeline led by the candidate cancer vaccine CVGBM. CureVac aims to report phase one clinical data for this candidate drug in glioblastoma this year. By the end of 2025, the biotech company plans to have two shared antigen cancer vaccine clinical candidates in the fields of solid tumors and blood cancers, with plans to initiate two more by the end of 2026.OnePhase Trial.

cr：https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/gsk-pays-curevac-430m-mrna-vaccines-against-flu-and-covid-partner-lays-30-staff

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