Germany’s CureVac gets €22M for RNA cancer treatment

CureVac GmbH, a spin-out from the University of Tübingen, said it has received €22 million in a second round of financing for clinical trials for its RNA molecule technology to treat cancer. 

The investors who contributed to the new round include two venture capital funds DH Capital GmbH & Co. KG and OH Beteiligungen GmbH & Co. KG. CureVac received €2.7 million from Leonhardo Venture in a first round financing in 2003.

“We will use the new investment for clinical trails,” said Dr. Ingmar Hoerr, co-founder and CEO of CureVac, in an interview. “It could last us for about 4 years then we might be opening a third financing round or it could be an IPO. We will get the phase one data at the end of 2007 and then we start phase two study. We will get the studies in 2009 or 2010.”

CureVac is trying to develop vaccines that are based on its RNActive technology which is aimed specifically at treating and preventing tumours.  The RNA technology is a hot new market sector, aimed at turning off or regulating specific genes. The aim is to treat various human diseases.

CureVac GmbH, a spin-out of University of Tübinge, was founded in 2000 by Hoerr, Dr. Steve Pascolo, Dr. Florian von der Mülbe, Prof. Günther Jung and Prof. Hans-Georg Rammensee.

www.curevac.de