German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier confirmed that the government is investing in CureVac, a German-based biotech currently developing a mRNA based vaccine against COVID-19.
The Berlin government will pay $337.4 million to acquire a 23% stake in CureVac.
Back in March, it was reported that CureVac rejected a proposal by the Trump administration to purchase the exclusive rights to a coronavirus vaccine. To safeguard Germany's ownership of the country's two coronavirus vaccine developers — CureVac and BioNTech — the federal government gave itself new powers in May to veto foreign takeover bids for health care companies.
Altmaier said the government is looking to strengthen its life sciences and biotechnology sectors in Germany and that Berlin will not have influence over CureVac’s business strategy.
In mid-May, the CureVac posted positive preclinical results at a low dose for its lead vaccine candidate. Phase 1/2a clinical trials are expected to begin sometime this June.
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