CureVac raises EUR 27.6 Million in Financing Round

CureVac raises EUR 27.6 Million in Financing Round

2010-05-10 13:37:10 -

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Tübingen  (Germany), May 10, 2010. CureVac GmbH, the mRNA vaccine company, today
announced  the closing of a EUR 27.6 million (US$ 35.25 million) financing round
with its major shareholder, dievini Hopp BioTech holding
     
       
   GmbH & Co. KG.

The  proceeds will enable further  clinical development of RNActive® therapeutic
vaccines  against  solid  tumours.  The  funds  will  also  help  to  accelerate
preclinical and clinical development of prophylactic vaccines against infectious
diseases.

Currently,  CureVac's lead  compound to  treat prostate  cancer, CV9103, is in a
Phase IIa trial, with results expected in the second half of 2010. In a separate
Phase  I study, the  company is developing  CV9201, an mRNA  vaccine compound to
treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

"Since  its foundation, CureVac, a spin-off from Tübingen University, has raised
a  total  of  EUR  65 million  (US$  83 million). This significant funding shows
clearly the faith and confidence of our main investor, dievini Hopp" said Ingmar
Hoerr,  CEO of CureVac. "The proceeds from this financing round will allow us to
further develop our mRNA immunotherapeutics for the treatment of prostate cancer
and  NSCLC. Furthermore, the funds will enable us to speed up the development of
our  very promising prophylactic vaccine platform against infectious diseases as
well as to further develop our novel RNA-based adjuvants."

"Based  on  its  unique  mRNA-based  RNActive®  technology  and on all the data,
knowledge  and patents generated  so far, we  think that CureVac  is in a strong
position  to become an important player in future immunotherapy," said Friedrich
von  Bohlen, managing  partner of  dievini Hopp  Biotech Holding  GmbH & Co. KG.
"With  this  further  funding  from  our  side,  CureVac  is able to develop its
promising therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine candidates. We are convinced that
immunotherapeutic  approaches  will  become  more  and  more important in future
therapy  and prophylaxis  of infectious  diseases as  well as  the fight against
cancer," Friedrich von Bohlen added.

                                      ###

About CureVac

CureVac GmbH is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the prophylactic and
therapeutic  application of  messenger RNA  (mRNA). CureVac's  lead programme is
dedicated  to the development of active  immunotherapies (based on its RNActive®
technology) for the treatment of prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.
Furthermore, in preclinical studies, CureVac is developing prophylactic vaccines
and adjuvants to address infectious diseases.

Currently,  there are  two candidates  in clinical  development: CV9103 to treat
prostate  cancer, which, in the  U.S. and Europe, is  the most common cancer and
the  second leading cause of cancer death in men, and CV9201, to treat non-small
cell  lung  cancer  (NSCLC).  Lung  cancer  affects more than 1.4 million people
worldwide and is the leading cause of cancer death.

CureVac,  a spin-off from  the Tübingen University,  Germany, was established in
December  2000 and  is  headquartered  in  Tübingen  with  clinical  development
facilities   in   Frankfurt.   Since  its  inception,  the  Company  has  raised
approximately  EUR 65 million. The principal investor  of the company is dievini
Hopp  BioTech  holding  GmbH&Co.  KG,  the  biotech  investment firm of the Hopp
family.

RNActive®,  RNAdjuvant®,  PUREmessenger®  are  registered  trademarks of CureVac
GmbH.

About CureVac's mRNA-derived Technologies

Messenger  ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a  genetic template for protein synthesis.
It  delivers the information  encoded by genes  from DNA to  ribosomes where the
information  is translated into individual proteins.  Natural RNA is an unstable
biomolecule  that  is  rapidly  digested  in  the  human  body. As a result, its
potential role as a therapeutic has been overlooked for decades.

CureVac  has  proved  it  is  possible  to  modify  mRNA  making it suitable for
therapeutic  purposes  and  maintaining  its physiological properties. CureVac's
RNActive®-derived  customized  mRNA  molecules  are  used  to  encode  different
antigens  that are expressed by cells residing  in the upper layers of the skin.
Hence,  the  immune  system  will  recognize  these  antigens on presentation to
dendritic  cells and react by forming  both antigen-specific T-cells and humoral
antibodies.

Building  on its unique expertise from many  years of RNA research and molecular
design,  the  Company  has  established  proprietary  technologies. Furthermore,
CureVac  has  built  up  a  worldwide  unique production plant for manufacturing
pharmaceutical   grade  mRNA  according  to  cGMP  (current  Good  Manufacturing
Practice).  The combination of these technologies  enables the Company to design
and manufacture mRNA for a broad range of applications.


Contact
CureVac GmbH
Marijke Barner, PhD
Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15
72076 Tübingen
Germany

T +49 (0) 70 71.92 0 53-61
F +49 (0) 70 71.92 0 53-11
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
www.curevac.com <http://www.curevac.com/>


MC Services AG
Hilda Juhasz
T +49 (0) 89.210 228 20
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

 

[HUG#1413954]

 

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CureVac GmbH
Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15 Tübingen Germany