GSK is paying 400 million euros ($430 million) upfront for full rights to CureVac’s vaccines against influenza and COVID-19. The mRNA specialist shared news of the deal alongside a restructuring that will put 30% of its employees out of work and extend its cash runway into 2028.
CureVac entered into an infectious disease deal with GSK in July 2020, a time when the company was in the ascendancy as one of a band of biotechs with mRNA technology that could help stop the pandemic. GSK paid 120 million euros ($129 million) upfront for rights to candidates outside of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In 2021, GSK paid a further 75 million euros ($80.6 million) to split the costs and profits of CureVac’s COVID-19 vaccines.
The revised deal replaces the earlier agreements. GSK is paying the upfront and now committing up to 1.05 billion euros ($1.13 billion) in milestones to take full control of mRNA candidate vaccines for influenza and COVID-19. The Big Pharma will handle development, production and commercialization globally.
CureVac has worked with GSK on mRNA vaccine candidates against seasonal and avian influenza, plus COVID-19, that are now in clinical development. While GSK will take control of those prospects, CureVac is retaining exclusive rights to additional undisclosed and preclinically validated infectious disease targets from the prior collaboration.
GSK has restructured its deal with CureVac three months after the partners’ seasonal flu candidate failed to match the response of approved products against influenza B strains. CureVac responded by setting out plans to optimize the vaccine and run an additional phase 2 study.
The new deal boosts CureVac’s bank balance while freeing it from responsibilities it had under the original agreements. CureVac outlined plans to eliminate 150 roles under a “voluntary leaver” program in April. The actions helped extend the biotech’s cash runway but only through to the fourth quarter of 2025.
Wednesday, CureVac unveiled more significant changes. The biotech plans to reduce its head count by around 30% and refocus on R&D. CureVac ended last year with 1,172 employees, around half of whom worked in R&D. Almost all of CureVac’s workforce is based in Germany.
Coupled with the payment from GSK, the cuts will extend the mRNA specialist’s cash runway into 2028.
The remaining employees will advance a pipeline led by the cancer vaccine candidate CVGBM. CureVac is aiming to report phase 1 data on the prospect in glioblastoma this year. By the end of 2025, the biotech plans to have two clinical candidates for shared-antigen cancer vaccines in solid tumor and blood cancers and be on course to start two more phase 1 trials by the end of 2026.