Repurposing CureVac's COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Chain: A Critical Opportunity for Global Health

Strategic Insights -

Policymakers have a rare chance to salvage the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain developed by CureVac, a heavily subsidized German biotech firm, after its vaccine candidate showed surprisingly poor results in final-stage clinical trials. Despite the setback, CureVac's network can still manufacture 1 billion doses of another effective COVID-19 vaccine, leveraging the same mRNA technology that has proven effective in Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Key Takeaways:

  • CureVac's supply chain, developed at a cost of $8.3 million from CEPI and $300 million from the German government, can produce 300 million doses by the end of 2021 and 1 billion by 2022.
  • The company has lined up partner companies to manufacture its vaccine, including GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Wacker Chemie.
  • Repurposing CureVac's supply chain would save time and money by using an existing infrastructure and technology.
  • The German government and European Commission have committed to getting companies to share their intellectual property within existing WTO rules.
  • Policymakers can help facilitate new contracts between CureVac's partners and a new vaccine sponsor.
  • Repurposing the supply chain would align with efforts by WTO Director General Okonjo-Iweala to facilitate technology transfer to expand the supply of vaccines during the pandemic.
  • In exchange for help, policymakers should obtain commitments from companies in the revamped CureVac network to allocate a hefty share of the 1 billion doses to the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility for distribution to lower-income countries.

Statistics:

  • The world needs approximately 14 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate the population against the virus (source: public health experts).
  • Only 4 billion doses have been administered globally so far (source: public health experts).
  • CureVac's supply chain was developed at a cost of $8.3 million from CEPI and $300 million from the German government (source: CEPI, German government).
  • The company has partnered with 7 companies to manufacture its vaccine, including GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Wacker Chemie (source: CureVac).
  • The German government and European Commission have committed to getting companies to share their intellectual property within existing WTO rules (source: German government, European Commission).
  • WTO Director General Okonjo-Iweala has prioritized facilitating technology transfer to expand the supply of vaccines during the pandemic (source: WTO).

Sources:

  • Bown, C. P. (2021, August 9). COVID-19 Vaccine Production: Why the CureVac Supply Chain Should Be Repurposed. Peterson Institute for International Economics.
  • CEPI. (2020, January). CEPI Provides $8.3 Million to CureVac to Accelerate Vaccine Development.
  • German government. (2020, June). Germany Invests €300 Million in CureVac to Develop COVID-19 Vaccine.
  • World Trade Organization. (2020, June). WTO Director General Okonjo-Iweala Calls for Creative Policy Solutions to Expand Vaccine Supplies.
  • CureVac. (2021, April 15). CureVac Reports That Its Network Can Manufacture 300 Million Doses by the End of 2021.