Private funding for CureVac

Information technology pioneer and SAP founder Dietmar Hopp is supporting the future work of the German biopharmaceutical enterprise CureVac to the tune of 22.0 million euros ($26.6 million) through his investment companies DH Capital GmbH and OH Beteiligungen GmbH und Co.

Mr Hopp's millions will primarily be used for all phases of a clinical trial for a drug against various types of carcinoma. CureVac is pursuing an extraordinary immune-therapy approach, using stabilized mRNA molecules, which could be relevant to various disease patterns, and in particular to cancer.

The immune system is usually in the vanguard of the struggle against tumors, so researchers from Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, are now trying to program body cells with certain RNA molecules (mRNA). This means the human body is temporarily capable of systematically activating the immune system. The body is then able to combat tumors using specially-produced proteins, which are encoded through the mRNA. The long-term objective is to develop an mRNA vaccination against solid tumours.