GSK and CureVac partner up to develop future mRNA Covid-19 vaccines

During a week in which Johnson & Johnson submitted an application to the FDA for emergency use authorization (EUA) of its one-dose vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline plc and CureVac N.V. announced a new $180 million (€150 million) collaboration to jointly develop mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 with the potential for a multi-valent approach to address multiple emerging variants in one vaccine.

As part of an existing agreement, GSK will also support the manufacturing of up to 100 million doses of CureVac’s first-generation Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, in 2021.

Under the terms of the new collaboration, GSK will be the marketing authorization holder for the next-generation vaccine, except in Switzerland, and will have exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the Covid-19 vaccine in all countries with the exception of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. GSK will make an upfront payment of $90 million (€75 million) and a further milestone payment of the same amount, conditional on the achievement of specific milestones.

The objective is to offer broader protection against a variety of different SARS-CoV2 variants, and to enable a quick response to new variants potentially emerging in the future. The development program will begin immediately, with the target of introducing the vaccine in 2022, subject to regulatory approval.