A collaboration and services agreement united Bayer and CureVac N.V. this week in support of CureVac’s new class mRNA-based medicines, particularly its COVID-19 vaccine candidate CVnCoV.
Under the agreement, Bayer will support development, supply, and key territory operations through its expertise and established infrastructure in clinical operations, regulatory affairs, supply chain performance, and selected countries. The goal is to create a supply of several hundred million doses capable of deployment.
“The need for vaccines against COVID-19 is enormous,” Stefan Oelrich, Member of the Board of Management, Bayer AG and president of the Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division, said. “We are therefore pleased to be able to provide significant support to CureVac, a leader in mRNA technology, in advancing the further development and supply of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. We are highly committed to making our capabilities and networks available to help end this pandemic.”
CureVac will now be the Marketing Authorization Holder for the vaccine, while Bayer will support it within the European Union and certain other markets. Bayer could also become Marketing Authorization Holder in markets beyond Europe. However, this all depends on approvals being granted for CVnCoV, but both companies intend to contribute to the production of products capable of halting the COVID-19 pandemic.
CVnCoV began phase 2b/3 of its development last month.
“We are very happy to join forces with Bayer, whose expertise and infrastructure will help us make our vaccine candidate CVnCoV even more rapidly available to as many people as possible,” Dr. Franz-Werner Haas, CEO of CureVac, said. “Building on the positive data we have seen so far with CVnCoV, we now also have another strong partner on our side to get the vaccine to the people who need it following the receipt of the requisite regulatory approvals.”