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Coronavirus
Covid-19: Vaccine Development in Germany
Researchers in Germany play a leading role in the development of solutions to tackle the Coviod-19 pandemic. Especially the vaccine development projects are attracting attention.
Oct 27, 2020
- Covid-19 vaccines from Germany in clinical trials
- mRNA vaccine in phase II trial stage
- EU agreements signed subject to approval
- German government R&D funding activities
- Early-stage Covid-19 vaccine development
Covid-19 vaccines from Germany in clinical trials
Three German companies have started clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines.
BioNTech from Mainz is developing the mRNA vaccine BNT162 jointly with the US pharma company Pfizer. It is currently being developed in a Phase II/III trial at 175 locations worldwide – most of them located in the USA. Roundabout 44,000 participants are expected to be enrolled in the trial, that is scheduled to continue until June 2021.
In September, BioNTech acquired a GMP manufacturing facility in Marburg/Germany from Novartis AG in order to create additional vaccine manufacturing capacity of up to 60 million doses per month. Rolling submissions to the EMA and Health Canada began in October 2020.
mRNA vaccine in phase II trial stage
Curevac, a Tübingen University spin-off company, is also developing an mRNA vaccine that is currently in a Phase II trial with 691 participants in Peru. The trial is expected to continue until November 2021. Curevac is collaborating with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations on the development of this vaccine, and has a strategic partnership with GSK to advance mRNA and mAB therapeutics against infectious diseases.
EU agreements signed subject to approval
BioNTech, Pfizer and CureVac have concluded supply agreements with the EU and other countries in order to provide their vaccines to them if they receive approval.
IDT Biologika, located in Dessau, is collaborating with the German Center for Infection Research and several universities to develop an MVA vector vaccine. The product is currently tested in a Phase I clinical trial in Hamburg.
German government R&D funding activities
The German government has invested considerable sums to accelerate the research on and production of Covid-19 vaccines. The Federal Ministry for Education and Research, for example, funded the three companies mentioned above to the tune of around EUR 750 million. Germany also bought a EUR 300 million stake in CureVac in June.
Early-stage Covid-19 vaccine development
There are many more companies working on Covid-19 vaccines at earlier stages:
- ARTES Biotechnology is developing a vaccine based on virus-like particles
- baseclick is working on an mRNA vaccine
- Leukocare is cooperating with the companies ReiThera (Italy) and Univercells (Belgium) on a vector vaccine – the first in-human study of which was announced for summer 2020.
- Prime vector technologies is conducting research on a polyvalent vaccine vector. The company was supported by a grant from the EXIST program, which promotes the translation of academic research to industry.
