FRANKFURT, July 1 — Germany’s CureVac announced Wednesday that final trial results showed its coronavirus vaccine had an efficacy rate of just 48 per cent, far lower than those developed by mRNA rivals BioNTech and Moderna.The company in part blamed “the unprecedented context of 15 strains circulating” among the trial volunteers, as well as varying responses across different age groups.
Among that same 18-60 age group, the vaccine offered 100 per cent protection against hospitalisation and death. CureVac’s late-stage Phase 2b/3 trial involved some 40,000 people in 10 countries in Europe and Latin America. Of those, 228 contracted the coronavirus. The company said it had shared its data with the European Medicines Agency and would give further details at a press conference on Thursday.