Second-Generation COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate, CV2CoV, Demonstrates High Immunogenicity Against Virus Variants in Preclinical Study
- Second-generation lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, developed in collaboration by CureVac and GSK
- CV2CoV mRNA shows high levels of antigen production in rat model
- Fast onset of strong neutralizing antibody titers after first vaccination
- High cross-neutralizing capacity of induced antibodies against selected Variants of Concern
CureVac N.V., a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), today announced together with its collaboration partner GSK, first preclinical data in a rat model, showing that its second-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, induces high levels of antigen production as well as strong and dose-dependent immune responses in vaccinated animals. CV2CoV is a co-development between CureVac and GSK and is based on a new mRNA backbone, which differs from CureVac’s first-generation vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, currently in late-stage clinical testing. Preclinical data in rats immunized with CV2CoV in the dose range of 0.5-40µg demonstrated fast onset of strong immune responses already after the first dose. In addition, the serum of vaccinated animals showed significant cross-neutralization against variants first discovered in Denmark (B.1.1.298), the UK (B.1.1.7) and South Africa (B.1.351). The full manuscript of the preclinical data is available on the pre-print server bioRxiv.