Investing.com – CureVac stock (NASDAQ:CVAC) plunged 15% in Tuesday’s premarket trading to its lowest since the start of the pandemic, as the company dumped its candidate Covid-19 vaccine to focus on the development of second-generation mRNA vaccine candidates in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK).
The company said it is withdrawing its first-generation Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, from the current approval process with the European Medicines Agency, admitting that it was too late to bring a first-generation drug to market now. As a result, the company’s advanced purchase agreement with the European Commission will also cease.
According to CureVac, the earliest potential approval from EMA would come only in the second quarter of 2022. By this time, the companies expect candidates from the second-generation vaccine program to have progressed to late-stage clinical development, it said in a note.
CureVac and GSK aim to secure regulatory approval for market readiness of an improved Covid-19 vaccine in 2022. The companies also plan to accelerate efforts to progress the development of modified mRNA vaccine constructs.
CureVac’s decision comes as worries over adequate vaccine supplies are on the wane globally, especially in the developed world.