The development programme commences immediately with an aim to introduce the vaccine in 2022, post regulatory approval.
This vaccine will be developed with a potential for a multi-valent approach to address protection against several emerging variants of the virus.
As part of this exclusive co-development deal, GSK and CureVac will dedicate expertise and resources on research and development as well as in manufacturing a number of mRNA vaccine candidates with monovalent and multi-valent approaches.
This agreement builds on CureVac’s first generation Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, which is currently in its Phase 2b/3 trials.
GSK will support the production of CVnCoV, CureVac’s first-generation Covid-19 vaccine candidate.
GSK CEO Emma Walmsley said: “We believe that next generation vaccines will be crucial in the continued fight against COVID-19. This new collaboration builds on our existing relationship with CureVac and means that together, we will combine our scientific expertise in mRNA and vaccine development to advance and accelerate the development of new COVID-19 vaccine candidates.”
The firm’s established manufacturing network in Belgium will support the development of approximately 100 million doses of CVnCoV vaccine in 2021.
Speaking on this collaboration, CureVac CEO Franz-Werner Haas said: “We are very pleased to build on our existing relationship with GSK with a new agreement to jointly develop next generation mRNA-based vaccines, in addition to our current candidate CVnCoV. With the help of GSK’s proven vaccine expertise, we are equipping ourselves to tackle future health challenges with novel vaccines.”
As per the terms of this new partnership, GSK will have the exclusive rights for the development, manufacture, and commercialisation of the next-generation Covid-19 vaccine in all countries except Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. GSK will also hold the marketing authorisation for the next generation vaccine, except in Switzerland. It plans on making an upfront payment of €75m and another milestone payment of €75m, subject to achieving specific milestones.