GlaxoSmithKline, CureVac In Pact To Develop Vaccines For COVID-19 Variants

U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc (NYSE: GSK) and Germany’s CureVac BV (NASDAQ: CVAC) have announced to work together in a €150 million collaboration for the development of a new generation of COVID-19 vaccines to tackle emerging variants of the virus.
The collaboration will build on CureVac’s first-generation mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, currently in Phase 2b/3 trial, and stable at standard 2-8 degrees Celsius cold chain conditions for vaccines.
The vaccine candidate will use mRNA technology that would work on multiple variants of the Sars-Cov-2 virus and be ready for use in 2022, subject to approval. The development program will start immediately.
Under the terms of the new collaboration agreement, GSK will have marketing authorization for the next-gen vaccine, except in Switzerland, and will have exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the next generation COVID-19 vaccine in all countries except Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
GSK will make an upfront payment of €75 million and a further milestone payment of €75 million and help manufacture up to 100 million doses of CureVac’s first-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate at its plant in Belgium. CureVac also has a manufacturing agreement with Bayer AG BAYZF.
Price Action: CVAC shares are up 4.68% at $103.32 in the pre-market session on the last check Wednesday.