CureVac and GSK Start Clinical Development of Second-Generation COVID-19 Vaccine  Candidate, CV2CoV

• Phase 1 dose-escalation study started at clinical sites in the U.S. 

• Milestone demonstrates CureVac’s and GSK’s continued execution on comprehensive  clinical program of second-generation vaccine candidates for infectious diseases 

TÜBINGEN, Germany/ BOSTON, USA – March 30, 2022 – CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global  biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on  messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced that the first participant was dosed in  a Phase 1 study of COVID-19 second-generation mRNA vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, developed  in collaboration with GSK. The clinical trial is expected to provide valuable data to further  evaluate the performance of CureVac’s second-generation mRNA backbone, which has the  potential to be applied broadly in future vaccines against COVID-19 variants and other  pathogens.  

A preclinical study of CV2CoV in cynomolgus macaques, published in Nature in November 2021,  demonstrated rapid induction of higher antibody titers, better induction of immune memory  and stronger protective efficacy of CV2CoV compared to CureVac’s first-generation vaccine  candidate, CVnCoV. The same study demonstrated comparable neutralizing antibody titers in  animals fully vaccinated with either 12µg of CV2CoV or a 30µg standard dose of a licensed mRNA  COVID-19 vaccine. 

“Continued innovation and progress in the development of mRNA-based vaccines is a critical  prerequisite to combat the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and to further extend the possibilities  of mRNA technology to a broad range of indications,” said Dr. Klaus Edvardsen, Chief  Development Officer of CureVac. “Our second-generation mRNA backbone was engineered to  enable faster and stronger immune responses than our first-generation vaccine. This Phase 1  trial of CV2CoV will provide clinical data to further establish this backbone as a basis to flexibly  address not only different COVID-19 variants, but also a range of other diseases and potential  combination vaccines.” 

The Phase 1 dose-escalation study is being conducted at clinical sites in the U.S. and is expected  to enroll up to 210 healthy adults to evaluate the safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of  CV2CoV in the dose range of 2 to 20µg. Data results from the Phase 1 study are expected in the  second half of 2022. The program follows the recent start of the Phase 1 clinical study for the  jointly developed seasonal influenza vaccine candidate, CVSQIV, also applying the optimized  second-generation mRNA backbone. 

The CureVac-GSK infectious disease collaboration was first announced in July 2020 and focuses  on the development of new products based on CureVac’s mRNA technology for different targets  in the field of infectious diseases. In 2022, both companies have broadened their development  strategy to test chemically modified mRNA technologies in addition to unmodified mRNA. 

Clinical programs with chemically modified mRNA for COVID-19 and influenza are expected to  start later this year. 

About CV2CoV 

CV2CoV is CureVac’s first COVID-19 vaccine candidate based on the advanced second generation mRNA backbone from the broad second-generation program, currently developed  in collaboration with GSK. The vaccine candidate is a non-chemically modified mRNA, encoding  the prefusion stabilized full-length spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and formulated within  Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs). CV2CoV was engineered with specifically optimized non-coding  regions to exhibit improved mRNA translation for increased and extended protein expression  compared to the first-generation mRNA backbone. A clinical study to test the use of chemically  modified mRNA is expected to begin later this year. 

About CureVac 

CureVac is a global biopharmaceutical company in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA)  technology, with more than 20 years of expertise in developing, optimizing and manufacturing  this versatile biological molecule for medical purposes. The principle of CureVac’s proprietary  technology is the use of optimized mRNA as a data carrier to instruct the human body to produce  its own proteins capable of fighting a broad range of diseases. In July 2020, CureVac entered into a collaboration with GSK to jointly develop new products in prophylactic vaccines for infectious  diseases based on CureVac’s second-generation mRNA technology. This collaboration was later  extended to the development of second-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidates and modified  mRNA vaccine technologies. Based on its proprietary technology, CureVac has built a deep  clinical pipeline across the areas of prophylactic vaccines, cancer therapies, antibody therapies,  and the treatment of rare diseases. CureVac had its initial public offering on the New York  Nasdaq in August 2020. It is headquartered in Tübingen, Germany, and employs more than 900  people acrossits sites in Tübingen, Frankfurt, and Boston, USA. Further information can be found  at www.curevac.com. 

CureVac Investor Relations Contact 

Dr. Sarah Fakih, Vice President Corporate Communications and Investor Relations CureVac, Tübingen, Germany 

T: +49 7071 9883-1298 

M: +49 160 90 496949 

sarah.fakih@curevac.com 

CureVac Media Contact 

Bettina Jödicke-Braas, Manager Communications 

CureVac, Tübingen, Germany 

T: +49 7071 9883-1087 

bettina.joedicke-braas@curevac.com 

Forward-Looking Statements CureVac 

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For further information, please reference the company’s reports and documents filed with the  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). You may get these documents by visiting EDGAR  on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.