Status: 24.06.2021 7:53 p.m.
Despite poor study results from their corona vaccine, the biotech company CureVac does not want to give up. At the digital general meeting, the board of directors announces that it will hold on to the approval. Inquiries are not allowed.
The evening before the general meeting of CureVac in Tübingen is restless. Heavy storms hit the city. Masses of rain flood and eventually destroy the city’s vaccination center. The capricious weather in the university town matches the current mood of the Tübingen-based biotech company CureVac. Last week it became known that the vaccine candidate CVnCoV only proves an effectiveness of 47 percent against corona disease according to the first interim results. The result: The share price fell by more than 40 percent, around eight billion dollars in market value was lost.
Trying to be optimistic
A week later, the CEO of CureVac, Franz-Werner Haas, tried to spread optimism again. Because they have not written off the vaccine in Tübingen despite the poor results: “After the final analysis of the study, we will take the most suitable regulatory path for CVnCoV,” emphasized Haas at the virtual general meeting in front of investors. In spite of the comparatively low effectiveness, approval seems to be the clear goal. Provided that the European Medicines Agency EMA plays along.
The increasing spread of virus variants posed challenges for the current study. “We are practically fighting a different virus,” said the CEO. Despite poor interim results, CureVac plans to continue producing 300 million doses of vaccine this year. In 2021 it should be one billion. Haas told “Die Zeit”: “We produce through.” However, if no approval is obtained, Haas continues, production of the vaccine candidate would be stopped immediately.
After 41 minutes it’s all over
The annual general meeting, which is taking place virtually due to the corona pandemic, will be held at record speed. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Jean Stéphenne, ended the meeting after 41 minutes. A question and answer session among shareholders will not be permitted. “It was an unusual general meeting,” says Sabrina Fritz von der SWRBusiness editor. The supervisory board and executive board could not be seen, only the sound and a presentation played. “Other companies do it differently. In addition, not one question was read out and answered by shareholders. In the end it was said that all questions had been answered with the presentation. That would not have been enough for me as a shareholder,” said Fritz. Criticism also comes from the Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger (SdK): As a proxy, they tried in vain to participate in the general meeting.
A few weeks ago, private investor Fritz Keller had a queasy feeling about the development of CureVac. “It took a long time to get the results. It was always such a hesitation. And that leads to a certain nervousness.” Keller listened to his feelings and six weeks ago sold his CureVac shares for a profit. Other small investors lost a lot of money with last week’s price crash. Since the first listing on the New York technology exchange NASDAQ in August 2020, the share price of CureVac had tripled at times. The hope for a rapidly developed vaccine thanks to new mRNA technology had driven prices upwards.
Uncertainty among test subjects too
Petra B. (Name changed by the editor) has counted on the success of the CureVac vaccine. In the spring, the woman, who wants to remain anonymous, was vaccinated as part of the vaccine study. “I decided to do the study because I found the situation so unsatisfactory. I wanted to do something to help us get the pandemic under control more quickly.” Petra B. had received two vaccinations. Then she didn’t hear anything for weeks: “In the last few weeks I had the feeling that something was wrong with the vaccine. We test subjects were repeatedly put off when we asked about the results.”
When asked, she learns that she was actually given the active ingredient and not the placebo. The vaccination certificate would have come with the approval. And now? “I don’t get a vaccination card and am now considering getting vaccinated again with an approved vaccine.” That worries her, because nobody knows how her body reacts to it.
Attempt to limit the damage
The virologist and chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) Thomas Mertens recommends that test subjects such as Petra B. should be viewed in the same way as those who have recovered: “They would then possibly be given a booster vaccination. That makes immunological sense to me.” Petra B. would still not receive a vaccination certificate.
At the virtual general meeting in Tübingen, company boss Haas tries to limit the damage and emphasizes the wide range of products at CureVac research. It concerns active substances for the treatment of lung cancer and vaccines against rabies and yellow fever. The problems with the corona vaccine candidate CVnCoV are not discussed in detail. And so many questions remain unanswered.