Corona vaccine: Second study in Germany

Florian Tiefenböck studied human medicine at the LMU Munich. In March 2014, he joined as a student and has supported the editorial team with medical articles ever since. After receiving his medical license and practical work in internal medicine at the University Hospital Augsburg, he has been a permanent member of the team since December 2019 and, among other things, ensures the medical quality of the tools.

More posts by Florian Tiefenböck All content is checked by medical journalists.

The federal government has just joined CureVac - the company is now starting the first clinical tests with its vaccine candidate. The responsible federal institute gives the green light for this - results can be expected in autumn.

The Tübingen-based company CureVac is allowed to start clinical testing of its vaccine candidate against corona. The responsible Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) approved the company to test the active ingredient on healthy volunteers, as the Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Medicines announced on Wednesday.

As part of this so-called phase 1 study, the first test subjects are to be vaccinated in June. At the end of April, the Mainz-based company Biontech had already received approval to test its active ingredient on healthy volunteers (houseofgoldhealthproducts.de reported).

How is the vaccine supposed to work?

CureVac is working on so-called mRNA vaccines. The mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) is a kind of messenger molecule that contains the building instructions for the production of proteins. For their vaccine, the CureVac researchers provided the mRNA with the instructions for a protein of the coronavirus. After vaccination, human cells produce this protein, which the body recognizes as foreign. The result: it forms antibodies and other defense cells against it.

“The immune response that we want to trigger is very similar to the natural immune response,” explained Mariola Fotin-Mleczek, the company's board member responsible for technology. The preliminary examinations required before a clinical study were successful, the company announced on its website.

Research since the beginning of the year

Since the end of January they have been working on the development of the corona vaccine candidate. A total of 168 healthy adult volunteers will take part in the phase 1 study, 144 of whom will be vaccinated. In this phase, the safety of the active ingredient is primarily checked and whether it actually triggers a defense reaction in the body. The first data should be available in autumn. Test centers are located in Tübingen, Hanover, Munich and Ghent, Belgium.

On Monday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced that it would invest 300 million euros in the company and take over around 23 percent of the shares. They also want to secure it against a possible takeover from abroad. The state does not want to influence business decisions. (ft / dpa)

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