The EU on Monday announced a multimillion-dollar investment in a German company that is working on a potential vaccine for COVID-19, amid reports that the US government was interested in acquiring the firm.
The funding is part of a coordinated EU response to the pandemic, making use of public and private funding to support research, the European Commission said.
“I am proud that we have leading companies like CureVac in the EU,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s former minister of defense. “Their home is here, but their vaccines will benefit everyone, in Europe and beyond.”
Photo: Reuters
The EU’s executive body did not mention possible US interest in CureVac, but said it would provide up to 80 million euros (US$88 million) in support so that it can “scale up development and production of a vaccine against the coronavirus in Europe.”
CureVac on Monday denied reports that the US government was acting to acquire it.
“CureVac has not received from the US government or related entities an offer before, during and since the task force meeting in the White House on March 2,” the company said on Twitter.
The company’s then-chairman had met with US President Donald Trump at the White House as part of a discussion with numerous pharmaceutical executives.
Amid multiple reports that Trump was offering the firm a large amount of money to secure its work for the US, the White House said it was unaware of such “underlying information.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel deflected a question about CureVac, referring to the company’s statement.
However, before CureVac’s tweet, Merkel’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told the Bild daily that German officials had “very intensive contact” with CureVac over the past two weeks “when there were thoughts of enticing it to the United States.”
Braun said the firm would get the support it needs to develop a vaccine as quickly as possible for use in Germany and around the world.
In related news, US drugmaker Pfizer Inc has signed a deal with Germany’s BioNTech SE to codevelop a potential vaccine for COVID-19 using BioNTech’s mRNA-based drug development platform, the companies said yesterday.
The drugmakers are to start the collaboration immediately and have signed a letter of intent for the vaccine’s distribution outside China, they said in a joint statement.
The companies said they would finalize financial terms, and details regarding development, manufacturing and potential commercialization of the vaccine over the next few weeks.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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