CureVac Still Hopes Variants Could Win Favor For COVID-19 Vaccine

Trial Shows Overall Protection Rate Of 48%

 
• By Alaric DeArment
  
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Patients 18-60 had a protection rate of 53%, but there were too few cases among those older than 60 – a crucial subgroup – in HERALD to draw conclusions about the vaccine’s efficacy among older people.

Doctor, nurse, scientist hand in blue gloves holding flu, measles, coronavirus, covid-19 vaccine disease preparing for child, baby, adult, man and woman vaccination shot, medicine and drug concept.
CureVac announced results of its HERALD study, showing a 48% overall protection rate, and 53% in the 18-60 group • Source: Shutterstock

With an overall protection rate under 50%, CureVac NV faces a challenging commercial environment for its messenger RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, CVnCoV, given that the vaccines already on the market have much higher protection rates. But CureVac may be able to secure regulatory approval from the European Medicines Agency and is banking on finding a role based on its efficacy in 15 variants of concern.

The Tübingen, Germany-based biotech announced 30 June results from its final analysis of the 40,000-subject HERALD trial. The study was...

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