CureVac goes out with a whimper

CureVac agreeing to an all-stock acquisition by BioNTech is an ignominious end for a company that had once claimed to be able to rival Moderna in mRNA expertise. The transaction, announced on Thursday, values Curevac shares at just $5.46, 95% below their 2021 peak towards the end of the Covid pandemic. Still, at least the deal allows CureVac holders to enjoy any subsequent accretion in BioNTech shares, while drawing a line under disappointments that last year resulted in a 30% headcount reduction, and licensing of Covid and influenza work to GSK. CureVac is effectively an oncology-focused company, with a small portfolio of cancer immunotherapies, and that clearly fits with BioNTech's presence in personalised neoantigen and fixed antigen therapeutics. But there might be a more prosaic reason for the deal: CureVac and BioNTech have been locked in legal proceedings over the latter's Covid vaccine Comirnaty, which CureVac claims infringes its patents, and just last month the European Patent Office confirmed the validity of CureVac’s European patent. Buying CureVac without any financial outlay allows BioNTech to avoid the nuisance of further litigation.

CureVac's work in oncology

Source: OncologyPipeline.