Publication in npj Vaccines Demonstrates CureVac's RNActive® Vaccine is Superior to Licensed Vaccines

TÜBINGEN, Germany and BOSTON, Oct. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CureVac AG, a fully-integrated biotechnology company pioneering mRNA-based drugs, today announced the publication of a study in the peer-reviewed journal, Nature Partner Journals Vaccines, demonstrating that vaccines based on CureVac's sequence optimized, chemically unmodified mRNA formulated in optimized lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are highly immunogenic and well tolerated.

The paper, titled "Unmodified mRNA in LNPs constitutes a competitive technology for prophylactic vaccines," by Lutz et al., reported results from a pre-clinical immunization study which demonstrated, for the first time, that a single intramuscular vaccination with LNP-formulated, chemically unmodified mRNAs encoding rabies or influenza antigens leads to a strong induction of local innate immune responses and systemic adaptive immune responses. The vaccines were well tolerated and induced long-lived functional antibody responses that correlated with protection for rabies and influenza virus. Notably, the humoral and cellular immune responses induced by LNP-formulated mRNA vaccines against rabies and influenza H3N2 were superior to the licensed vaccines Rabipur^® and Fluad^®, respectively. These results closely align with prior published research, which demonstrated that mRNA vaccines are immunogenic and capable of inducing protection against lethal rabies and influenza virus infections after intradermal vaccination in various animal models.^1,2

Mariola Fotin-Mleczek, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of CureVac commented, "The findings published in npj Vaccines add to the growing body of research which indicate that our chemically unmodified, formulated mRNA is highly immunogenic and well tolerated. Importantly, in a comparison of mRNA vaccines to licensed vaccines, we demonstrated that unmodified mRNA, encoding single antigens, formulated in optimized LNPs, fulfills all the key requirements to be a viable vaccine platform for human prophylaxis. These results lead to another important milestone for CureVac's RNActive^® Prophylactic Vaccine technology development."

The full study in npj Vaccines can be found here.

About npj Vaccines

npj Vaccines is a multidisciplinary journal that is dedicated to publishing the finest and high-quality research and development on human and veterinary vaccines. npj Vaccines is part of the Nature Partner Journals series and is published by Springer Nature in partnership with the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

About CureVac AG

CureVac is a leading company in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology with more than 17 years' expertise in handling and optimizing this versatile molecule for medical purposes. The principle of CureVac's proprietary technology is the use of mRNA as a data carrier to instruct the human body to produce its own proteins capable of fighting a wide range of diseases. The company applies its technologies for the development of cancer therapies, prophylactic vaccines and molecular therapies.

To date, CureVac has received approximately $420 million (€400 million) in equity investments including significant investments from SAP founder Dietmar Hopp's dievini and an investment of $52 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. CureVac has also entered into collaborations with multinational corporations and organizations, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, Sanofi Pasteur and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information, please visit www.curevac.com

Media Contacts

Verena Lauterbach, Senior Manager Communications
CureVac AG, Tübingen, Germany
+49 (0) 7071 9883 1756
[email protected]

Jason Rando, EVP & COO
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, New York
+1 212-375-2665
[email protected]

¹ Schnee, M. et al. An mRNA Vaccine Encoding Rabies Virus Glycoprotein Induces Protection against Lethal Infection in Mice and Correlates of Protection in Adult and Newborn Pigs. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis. 10, e0004746 (2016)

² Petsch, B. et al. Protective efficacy of in vitro synthesized, specific mRNA vaccines against influenza A virus infection. Nat. Biotechnol. 30, 1210–1216 (2012)

SOURCE CureVac AG

Related Links

http://www.curevac.com