CureVac gets first mRNA vaccine data in humans; waits for next step
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
CureVac, a small mRNA vaccine company in Tuebingen, Germany has shown that its CV9301 product for hormone-refractory prostate cancer is safe, well-tolerated and can elicit both a cellular and humoral immune response in a a high percentage of trial subjects. The data, from an open lable Phase I/IIa trial, announced on 4 October, are the company's first clinical results but the company now plans to wait for further results from an ongoing Phase I trial of a second product, CV9201 in non-small cell lung cancer before finalising its development strategy. "What is clear is that we don't stop here," said CEO Mr Ingmar Hoerr. "But how the product goes forward is unclear." The company will follow the prostate cancer patient outcomes for a year and then decide on its strategy. He explained that CureVac saw the results on CV9103 as the proof of concept that mRNA-based vaccines can stimulate a human immune response against a range of antigens.