GSK will pay $131m upfront in cash and make one-time reimbursable payment of $32.8m to reserve the manufacturing capacity at CureVac’s German manufacturing facility

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GlaxoSmithKline head office, London. (Credit: Ian Wilson/Wikipedia.)

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to acquire 10% stake in CureVac, and collaborate on research, development, manufacturing and commercialisation of mRNA-based vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against infectious diseases.

Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will make an equity investment of £130m in CureVac, in exchange for the 10% stake in the company.

The company will pay £104m upfront in cash and make one-time reimbursable payment of £26m to reserve the manufacturing capacity of CureVac’s manufacturing facility, which currently under construction in Germany.

GSK Vaccines president Roger Connor said: “GSK’s self-amplifying mRNA (SAM) vaccine technology has shown us the potential of mRNA technology to advance the science of vaccine development, and CureVac’s experience complements our expertise.

“Through the application of mRNA technology, including SAM, we hope to be able to develop and scale-up advanced vaccines and therapies to treat and prevent infectious diseases quicker than ever before.”

GSK has agreed to fund the research activities under collaboration with CureVac

CureVac is a German biopharmaceutical company specialised in mRNA technology. With its mRNA manufacturing capability, the company is said to complement GSK’s existing expertise in vaccines, including its self-amplifying mRNA (SAM) vaccine technology platform.

CureVac is entitled to receive up to £277m in development and regulatory milestone payments, and up to £329m in potential commercial milestone payments, along with the tiered royalties on product sales.

GSK has agreed to fund the joint research activities under the collaboration, where CureVac would conduct the preclinical- and clinical development through Phase 1 trials of the projects, followed by further development and commercialisation by GSK.

Also, CureVac will manufacture the product candidates and commercialise them and will retain commercialisation rights for selected countries for all product candidates.

CureVac acting Chief Executive Officer Franz-Werner Haas said: “We are delighted to partner with GSK. With this collaboration, we are gaining a world-class partner whose expertise and global footprint will allow us to further develop and translate the value of our platform into potential products for the world.”