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CureVac's interim results published on 16 June disappointed with 47% efficacy. Photo: Shutterstock 

CureVac in a statement said that its vaccine did not meet success criteria, although there is age and strain dependent efficacy.

“While we were hoping for a stronger interim outcome, we recognise that demonstrating high efficacy in this unprecedented broad diversity of variants is challenging,” said CureVac CEO Franz-Werner Haas.

Only one of the infections in the study that was sequenced was caused by the original Sars-CoV-2 variant that emerged in Wuhan. More than half of cases (57%) were caused by so-called variants of concern, which includes the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants, first detected in the UK, South Africa, Brazil and India.

“The variant-rich environment underlines the importance of developing next-generation vaccines as new virus variants continue to emerge,” Haas said. The company continues analysis, it said, and remains committed to developing a coronavirus vaccine.

Still, it looks unlikely that it will be able to file for authorisation with the European Medicines Agency anytime soon. This is required for CureVac to deliver on contracts signed with the EU for up to 405m doses.

More than 320,000 doses are destined for Luxembourg under the EU’s joint procurement of vaccinations against the coronavirus.

Based in Germany, CureVac received a €75m loan from the European Investment Bank for the development and large-scale production of vaccines, including its candidate against covid-19.

The EMA has approved the Pfizer/Biontech, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, all of which are administered in the grand duchy.