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You’re here (NASDAQ: TSLA) is hot right now. It will soon become the latest addition to the S&P 500. The company reported record revenues and profits in the third quarter of 2020. Its CEO, Elon Musk, just edged Bill Gates to become the second richest person in the world, thanks to his soaring Tesla stock.
It seems that almost everyone or anything Tesla related is successful. This could be great news for biotechnology that is moving closer to the leaders in the race to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus. CureVac (NASDAQ: CVAC) is sort of an under the radar COVID-19 vaccine maker for U.S. investors, but it’s the only one with a bona fide connection to Tesla.
Image source: Tesla.
Printing mRNA
You might think it’s a big push for an electric vehicle company like Tesla to have anything to do with biotechnology developing a vaccine for the coronavirus. Once you understand a few key things about CureVac and Tesla, the connection between the two companies will make sense.
As Modern and Pfizerpartner of BioNTech, CureVac is developing messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines and therapies. This mRNA approach has significant potential in immunization against infections with several types of viruses as well as in the treatment of other diseases, including cancer.
In 2019 (long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit), CureVac won $ 34 million in funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to build a prototype mRNA “printer”. The idea was to create a device capable of producing doses of mRNA for use in areas with viral outbreaks and in hospitals to make personalized drugs.
An mRNA printer would represent a revolutionary leap forward in the fight against viral diseases, especially in remote areas. As you might expect, however, the development of the device presents many technological hurdles.
This is where Tesla comes in. Three years ago, Tesla acquired Grohmann Engineering, a German company specializing in automated manufacturing. After CureVac received funding from CEPI to build a prototype mRNA printer, Tesla Grohmann Automation was the logical partner to turn to for help.
So far, CureVac hasn’t said much about how the effort to develop an mRNA printer is going. We’ll have to wait and see if Tesla’s magic comes to life again in helping biotech break through.
The biggest story of CureVac
However, CureVac won’t need Tesla’s Midas touch to succeed with its bigger story. It is one of only three companies to offer COVID-19 vaccines currently in phase 2. The other two are Chinese drug makers. This puts CureVac’s CVnCoV vaccine candidate behind just five others in advanced stage testing that could be commercialized in major Western markets.
CureVac plans to advance CVnCOV in a pivotal Phase 2b / 3 clinical study by the end of 2020. If all goes well, biotechnology looks likely to become one of the biggest winners in the COVID vaccine.
The company recently signed an agreement with the European Commission to supply up to 225 million doses of CVnCOV (assuming it gets regulatory approval). The deal includes an option for the EC to purchase an additional 180 million doses. While no financial details have been revealed, CureVac would likely earn billions of dollars in 2021 if CVnCOV is found to be safe and effective in late stage testing.
CVnCOV can be stored at standard refrigerator temperatures for up to three months and up to 24 hours at room temperature. This could give it an advantage over vaccines such as BNT162b2 from Pfizer and BioNTech, which must be stored at ultra-cold temperatures.
One to watch
The success of CVnCOV could bode well for the remainder of CureVac’s mRNA pipeline. The company is evaluating a rabies vaccine and two candidates for cancer immunotherapy in Phase 1 clinical studies. CureVac also has several other preclinical programs.
It is still too early to know for sure whether CVnCOV will achieve efficacy similar to the results announced by Pfizer and Moderna. However, CureVac is definitely a biotech stock that investors need to keep on their radar.
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