Poor efficacy confirmed for Curevac

The final readout from Curevac’s Covid-19 vaccine trial makes for no nicer reading than the interim results, released in mid-June, and the project's chances of making it to market look slim. The case numbers in the phase 2/3 Herald trial, now fully adjudicated, show an improvement in efficacy by just one point. The best possible future for CVnCoV is limited approvals in patients aged 18-60, in whom efficacy was slightly better. But this appears to be a post-hoc analysis – the only age-defined subgroup in the trial’s protocol was those aged 61 and over, and Curevac admitted that the trial data in over-60s did not enable a determination of efficacy. The company blamed the variants circulating in Europe and Latin America, where the trial was conducted, but with other seemingly more effective options, this argument could fail to hold water with regulators. Analysts from Berenberg state that there is no change to the European Commission’s advance purchase agreement for 225 million doses, so perhaps Curevac will still get a pay day. If so, it could put the money towards its second-gen product, which Curevac and partner Glaxosmithkline reckon can reach the clinic this quarter.