CureVac stock gains after upbeat preclinical data on COVID-19 vaccine candidate on primates

Shares of CureVac N.V. CVAC, +0.99% gained 0.4% in morning trading Monday, but bucked the selloff in the biotechnology sector and the broader stock market, after the Germany-based company revealed upbeat preclinical data regarding its vaccine candidates against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, in non-human primates. The stock's gain comes as the iShares Biotechnology ETF IBB, -1.64% dropped 2.4% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.23% slid 0.7%. The first-generation vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, and second-generation vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, were developed in collaboration with U.K.-based drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC GSK, +0.26% GSK, +0.50% and is based on mRNA technology, the same in the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna Inc. MRNA, -6.89% and Pfizer Inc. PFE, -0.09% and BioNTech SE BNTX, -11.95%. GlaxoSmithKline's stock eased 0.1% in morning trading. The company said CV2CoV achieved better activation of immune responses, with higher antibody neutralizing capacity across all variants, including the delta variant. "The current study shows that the immune responses and resulting protection produced by our second-generation candidate, based on our mRNA technology featuring targeted optimizations, are substantially improved in non-human primates against both the original SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as the Beta and Delta Variants of Concern and the Lambda Variant of Interest," said CureVac Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Igor Splawski.