A coronavirus vaccine manufactured by German company CureVac was only 47 percent effective in interim results, the company announced Wednesday, a major setback that was due largely to the difficulties posed by new variants.
The company's 40,000 person trial was conducted in 10 countries in Latin America and Europe, where "at least" 13 different variants were circulating. The 47 percent efficacy result, while not final, is the lowest reported to date from any COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer.
“While we were hoping for a stronger interim outcome, we recognize that demonstrating high efficacy in this unprecedented broad diversity of variants is challenging,” Franz-Werner Haas, CureVac's CEO, said in a statement. “In addition, the variant-rich environment underlines the importance of developing next-generation vaccines as new virus variants continue to emerge."
The company did not disclose many more details about the study, but said the trial would continue, with final results coming in two to three weeks.
The trial results released on Wednesday were based on data from 134 people who became infected with COVID-19. Sequencing of the viruses showed that only one single case was attributable to the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. More than half of the cases were caused by "variants of concern." ...
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