CureVac nears crossroads for therapeutic cancer vax

As Ingmar Hoerr toured the playing field at BIO last week, there was no mistaking the undercurrent of excitement revolving around therapeutic vaccines in the wake of the big Provenge approval. "There is now high interest in therapeutic vaccines," says Hoerr, the CEO of CureVac, which is based in Tübingen, Germany. And he couldn't be happier to see it. The spike in interest is occurring as CureVac is taking its own lead therapeutic vaccine through a Phase IIa trial for prostate cancer. With...

CureVac raises $35M for prostate cancer vax program

Hot on the heels of Dendreon's big victory at the FDA with the world's first therapeutic cancer vaccine, Germany's CureVac announced a $35 million round that is designed to accelerate work on its mRNA prostate cancer vaccine, now in mid-stage trials. The Tübingen University spinoff's lead therapeutic vaccine--the messenger RNA therapy CV9103--is currently in Phase IIa for prostate cancer, with data expected in the second half of this year. A separate mRNA vaccine for non-small cell lung...