News Feature | September 23, 2014

Boehringer Ingelheim, CureVac Partner On Lung Cancer Immunotherapy

By Cyndi Root

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Boehringer Ingelheim has obtained exclusive rights to develop and market CureVac’s investigational lung cancer immunotherapy. Announced in a press release, the new partnership will focus on the CV9202 vaccine based on CureVac’s mRNA technology (RNActive). Researchers will evaluate the agent in a chemo-radiation setting and in combination with Boehringer Ingelheim’s afatinib. Professor Klaus Dugi, CMO of Boehringer Ingelheim, said, "In our collaboration with CureVac, we will investigate combining existing treatments with the approach of sustained activation of the immune system.”

Boehringer Ingelheim and CureVac Agreement

The agreement specifies that Boehringer Ingelheim will receive a worldwide license to develop and commercialize CV9202, which is already in early clinical development. Boehringer Ingelheim will conduct the studies in at least two settings. One is a combination treatment with afatinib for advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor (EGFR) mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Another trial investigates CV9202 with local radiation in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC. In return for the global rights, Boehringer Ingelheim paid CureVac EUR 35 million. Depending on milestones and sales, CureVac is eligible for up to EUR 430 million.

CV9202 Vaccine

CureVac’s CV9202 vaccine uses mRNA technology to optimize the patient’s immune system and fight cancer. CV9202 and another vaccine, CV9201, have elicited immune responses against all anti-tumor antigens in initial clinical tests. CureVac’s RNA technology consists of the RNActive and the RNAdjuvant platforms. RNActive provides vaccines against cancer and for the prevention of infectious diseases. The RNAdjuvant platform focuses on long-chain, non-coding RNA molecules to amplify immunotherapeutic treatments against cancer or infectious diseases.

CV9202 Studies

CureVac has completed Phase 1/2a clinical studies, which have shown increased immune response and a favorable safety profile. Boehringer plans to use its agent, afatinib, in a study combining it with CV9202 to treat NSCLC patients. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved afatinib in July 2013 for first-line treatment of NSCLC. The FDA approved the drug based on a trial that demonstrated improved progression-free survival.

CureVac is conducting additional trials on its mRNA therapeutics and is collaborating with other biotech companies, such as In-Cell-Art, DARPA, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. In July 2014, CureVac signed a deal with Sanofi Pasteur for the development and commercialization of an mRNA-based vaccine against an undisclosed pathogen.