CureVac’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate, CVnCoV, Demonstrated Efficient Protection of Non-Human Primates During SARS-CoV-2 Challenge Infection
CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), today announced the publication of preclinical data demonstrating the induction of robust antibody and T cell responses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, in non-human primates. Furthermore, rhesus macaques were shown to be protected from challenge infection with SARS-CoV-2 following vaccination with 8µg of CVnCoV. The data provided important evidence on the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of CVnCoV at low doses, supporting the ongoing international clinical Phase 2b/3 efficacy study applying a 12µg dose. The full manuscript of the preclinical data is available on the pre-print server bioRxiv.
“These data further strengthen the protective profile of our lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, and complement our recently published preclinical findings,” said Dr. Mariola Fotin-Mleczek, Chief Technology Officer of CureVac. “Full protection of the lungs of vaccinated animals supports CVnCoV’s potential in protecting humans from the devastating effects the virus has. We are very encouraged to see that CVnCoV exihibits its protective efficacy already at a low dose, which is even lower than the dose we advanced into late-stage human clinical testing.”
Within the study, CVnCoV was tested in rhesus macaques at 8µg per dose following a two-dose vaccination schedule at day 0 and day 28. Robust humoral and cellular immune responses include high levels of spike protein and RBD specific binding, virus neutralizing antibodies and T cells. Upon challenge infection, vaccinated animals showed a reduced viral load in the upper respiratory tract (nose and throat) and full protection of the lower respiratory tract (lungs), where the virus was not detectable.
