Second-Generation mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate, CV2CoV, Demonstrates Improved Immune Response and Protection in Preclinical Study
- Preclinical study provides evidence for strongly improved immune responses with second-generation mRNA backbone jointly developed by CureVac and GSK compared to CureVac’s first-generation mRNA backbone
- Data demonstrate high protective efficacy of second-generation lead candidate, CV2CoV, in animal model during SARS-CoV-2 challenge study
- Neutralizing capacity of induced antibodies tested against a range of variants, including the Beta, Delta and Lambda variant
CureVac N.V., a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), and GSK today announced the publication of preclinical data investigating immune responses as well as the protective efficacy of CureVac’s first-generation vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, and second-generation vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, against SARS-CoV-2 challenge in non-human primates. The study assessed cynomolgus macaques vaccinated with 12µg of either the first or second-generation vaccine candidate. Better activation of innate and adaptive immune responses was achieved with CV2CoV, resulting in faster response onset, higher titers of antibodies and stronger memory B and T cell activation as compared to the first-generation candidate, CVnCoV. Higher antibody neutralizing capacity was observed with CV2CoV across all selected variants, including the Beta, Delta and Lambda variants. During challenge with the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, animals vaccinated with CV2CoV were found to be better protected based on highly effective clearance of the virus in the lungs and nasal passages. The full manuscript of the preclinical data is available on the preprint server bioRxiv.