- UK Government and CureVac enter new partnership to tackle new
future variants of Covid-19
- New vaccines to be developed at speed to respond to new
variants
- Agreement will allow large-scale manufacturing in the UK to
ramp up quickly to ensure new vaccines can be rolled out if
needed, subject to approval
A new partnership between the UK Government and vaccine
manufacturer CureVac has been established to rapidly develop new
vaccines in response to new Covid-19 variants if needed.
Both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines are safe
and effective and appear to work well against the Covid-19
variants currently dominant in the UK.
The new agreement will utilise UK expertise on genomics and virus
sequencing to allow new varieties of vaccines based on messenger
RNA technology to be developed quickly against new strains of
Covid-19 if they are needed.
The Government is establishing an expert advisory group to
identify the variants that the UK could need vaccines against.
Through the agreement announced today, the UK has placed an
initial order for 50 million doses of new vaccines to be
delivered later this year if they are required.
This is in addition to the broader portfolio of 407 million doses
already secured by the UK Government to date.
Almost all vaccines developed through this partnership against
new Covid-19 strains will be variants of an existing jab by
CureVac which is currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials,
meaning it should be possible to accelerate clinical trials ahead
of submission to the regulator for approval. The UK will use its
partnership with CureVac to boost the UK’s capacity to develop
and manufacture variant vaccines in the UK, strengthening our
domestic capabilities.
The process is similar to the method used to update flu vaccines
each year – updated and accelerated using the newly-proven mRNA
technology that can be reformulated against variants more quickly
than older and more traditional vaccine technologies. mRNA
technology is already being used in the Pfizer-BioNTech and
Moderna vaccines approved for use in the UK.
Business Secretary said:
“The UK’s vaccine programme has been a national success story so
far, and we are determined to make sure we’re as prepared as we
can be in the long-term if new variants of Covid-19 emerge.
“This fantastic new partnership means we can work to swiftly
tweak and rollout new variations of existing vaccines if we need
to, while also building up Britain’s vaccine manufacturing base
in the process.”
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
“The vaccines we are deploying now are safe and effective, with
the latest evidence suggesting they provide protection against
new strains of Covid-19.
“But we must be prepared for all eventualities and bolster
onshore UK manufacturing capacity to develop vaccines to combat
new variants of the disease, taking advantage of our
world-leading genomics expertise.
“This will help ensure we can continue to provide everyone with a
high level of protection against the virus and save lives.”
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam
said:
“While the vaccines currently being deployed in the UK appear to
work well against the Covid-19 variants currently dominant in the
UK, the virus continues to mutate and it is likely that our
vaccines will have to adapt to continue to offer the best
possible protection. Being able to create these new vaccines at
speed will allow our scientists to keep ahead of the virus as
they do every year with the influenza vaccine.”
Vaccines Minister said:
“This is exactly the kind of work that will stand us in good
stead as we continue our monumental national effort to end this
pandemic and return to normality.
“Of course we urge people to continue to take up the chance to
have a vaccine when they are invited to – all of which are safe
and have been proven to be effective against the virus.”
Interim Chair of the Vaccines Taskforce Clive Dix
said:
“Today’s agreement will mean the UK is better prepared for the
emergence of any significant new virus variant.
“Because these mRNA vaccines can be rapidly adapted we will be
ready to respond swiftly to new strains and update vaccines in
the same way the flu vaccine is updated each year – a vital part
of ending the pandemic once and for all.”
The UK Government’s new expert advisory group will look at both
current and potential future virus variants. This will involve
using the world-leading UK Science Surveillance networks
alongside genomic sequencing technologies and clinical trial
capabilities to allow the rapid identification of and response to
virus variants.
To date, the UK Government has invested over £300 million into
manufacturing a successful vaccine.
The UK was the first country in the world to procure, authorise
and then deploy both the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech
vaccines.
