CureVac N.V. is a German biopharmaceutical company based in Tübingen, Germany.
History
In April 2016, CureVac entered a development and option agreement with Canadian biotechnology company Acuitas Therapeutics to jointly develop a product incorporating Acuitas' lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology with CureVac's mRNA materials.[1][2] The encapsulated mRNA product described under the agreement was commissioned for use in in vitro and animal testing for pre-clinical trials of a vaccine candidate.
CureVac entered into an agreement with Arcturus Therapeutics in January 2018, gaining access to Arcturus's LNP formulation technology for use in CureVac's mRNA platform.[3][4]
COVID-19
CureVac partnered with Acuitas Therapeutics and Imperial College London for their COVID-19 vaccine trials.[5][6] CureVac received up to USD $15.3 million for the development of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and up to USD $34 million for its Lassa fever vaccine.[7]
Organization
CureVac is a member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).[8]
| Name | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ingmar Hoerr | Co-Founder and Former Chief Executive Officer[9] | - |
| Franz-Werner Haas | Chief Executive Officer (former)[10] | Sygnis Pharma, LION Bioscience, Sirona Dental Systems |
| Stefan Mueller | Vice President Preclinical[11] | Sandoz, Merck Serono, Merck, Knoll |
| Lidia Oostvogels | Vice President Area Head Infectious Diseases (former)[12] | Minervax, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Boehringer Ingelheim |
| Lívia Palmerston Mendes | Senior Scientist (former)[13] | NanoVation Therapeutics |
| Ralf Clemens | Scientific Advisory Board Chair[9:1] | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Novartis, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF) |
| Carol J. Baker | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:2] | Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) |
| Nina Bhardwaj | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:3] | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), Association of American Physicians (AAP), Cancer Immunology Research |
| Michel de Wilde | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:4] | COVID-19 Joint Biomanufacturing Subcommittee, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force |
| Karim Fizazi | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:5] | Institut Gustave Roussy, European Journal of Cancer |
| Dirk Jäger | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:6] | University Hospital Heidelberg, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) |
| Christopher Karp | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:7] | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Michael P. Manns | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:8] | Hannover Medical School (MHH) |
| Stanley Plotkin | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:9] | Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University |
| Jean-Paul Prieels | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:10] | DNAlytics, Vaximm, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) |
| Hans-Georg Rammensee | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:11] | University of Tübingen |
| George Siber | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:12] | ClearPath Vaccines Company (CVC), Wyeth, MassBiologics, COVAXX |
| Daniel Speiser | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:13] | Ludwig Cancer Research |
| Xiao-Ning Xu | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:14] | Imperial College London, Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics |
| Fred Zepp | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:15] | University Medical Center Mainz, German Society of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ), Standing Committee on Vaccination at the Robert Koch Institute (STIKO) |
| Gerd Zettlmeissl | Scientific Advisory Board member[9:16] | Hilleman Laboratories, Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, Chiron Behring, Intercell |
Investors
CureVac's investors include:
External links
Development and Option Agreement between CureVac AG and Acuitas Therapeutics Inc. (2016, April 29). Securities and Exchange Commission. http://archive.vn/2022.09.30-212813/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1809122/000110465920086354/tm2016252d12_ex10-11.htm ↩︎
Plieth, J., & Elmhirst, E. (2020, July 27). Curevac muddies the Moderna/Arbutus waters further. Evaluate Vantage. https://web.archive.org/web/20230322201623/https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/news/patents-and-litigation/curevac-muddies-modernaarbutus-waters-further ↩︎
Shores, D., Haversack, D., & Storaska, A. J. (2021, April 11). The mRNA IP and Competitive Landscape Through One Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic – Part I. IPWatchdog. https://web.archive.org/web/20210411171527/https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2021/04/11/mrna-ip-competitive-landscape-one-year-covid-19-pandemic-part/id%3D132130/ ↩︎
Exhibit 4.12 - Development and Option Agreement by and between CureVac AG and Arcturus Therapeutics Inc. (2018, January 1). Securities and Exchange Commission. https://web.archive.org/web/20210504030909/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1566049/000156459018013460/arct-ex412_1677.htm ↩︎
Bianchini, E. (2020, November 10). Acuitas Therapeutics: The Canadian technology that the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine “can’t work without.” Yahoo News. http://archive.today/2021.11.09-104248/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/covid19-vaccine-coronavirus-canada-acuitas-therapeutics-pfizer-biontech-211410040.html?guccounter=1 ↩︎
Lowe, D. (2021, June 17). CureVac Comes Up Short. Science. https://web.archive.org/web/20230129053807/https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/curevac-comes-short ↩︎
Our portfolio. CEPI. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20221021070613/https://cepi.net/research_dev/our-portfolio/ ↩︎
Membership. European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Association. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220701031757/https://www.efpia.eu/about-us/membership/ ↩︎
Mielach, A., & Hunter, R. (2016, March 30). CureVac Appoints Leading Experts to its Scientific Advisory Board. CureVac. https://web.archive.org/web/20220707053225/https://www.curevac.com/en/curevac-appoints-leading-experts-to-its-scientific-advisory-board/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Schüller, T., & Fakih, S. (2020, August 4). CureVac Appoints Dr. Franz-Werner Haas as Chief Executive Officer and Dr. Igor Splawski as Chief Scientific Officer. CureVac. https://web.archive.org/web/20220707043115/https://www.curevac.com/en/curevac-appoints-dr-franz-werner-haas-as-chief-executive-officer-and-dr-igor-splawski-as-chief-scientific-officer/ ↩︎
Schüller, T. (2019, February 3). CureVac Appoints Stefan Mueller, Ph.D., as Vice President Preclinical. CureVac. https://web.archive.org/web/20220707042527/https://www.curevac.com/en/curevac-appoints-stefan-mueller-ph-d-as-vice-president-preclinical/ ↩︎
Lidia Oostvogels. LinkedIn. Retrieved April 25, 2025, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/lidia-oostvogels-9129075/ ↩︎
Lívia Palmerston Mendes. LinkedIn. Retrieved April 25, 2025, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/liviapmendes/ ↩︎
Portfolio - Page 2. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Innovation Fund. Retrieved September 27, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230927091305/https://sif.gatesfoundation.org/portfolio/?fwp_paged=2&fwp_per_page=30 ↩︎
Schwab, T. (2020, August 21). Journalism’s Gates keepers. Columbia Journalism Review. https://web.archive.org/web/20250426002435/https://www.cjr.org/criticism/gates-foundation-journalism-funding.php ↩︎
