Germany tries to halt U.S. interest in firm working on coronavirus vaccine

[webfact]

Germany tries to halt U.S. interest in firm working on coronavirus vaccine

By Paul Carrel and Andreas Rinke

 

FILE PHOTO: Employee Philipp Hoffmann, of German biopharmaceutical company CureVac, demonstrates research workflow on a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease at a laboratory in Tuebingen, Germany, March 12, 2020. Picture taken on March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

 

German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.

 

Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.

 

Responding to the report, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, wrote on Twitter: "The Welt story was wrong."

 

A U.S. official said: "This story is wildly overplayed ... We will continue to talk to any company that claims to be able to help. And any solution found would be shared with the world."

 

A German Health Ministry spokeswoman, confirming a quote in the newspaper, said: "The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe."

 

"In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac," she added.

 

Welt am Sonntag quoted an unidentified German government source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists' work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States, "but only for the United States."

 

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told a news conference that the government's coronavirus crisis committee would discuss the CureVac case on Monday.

 

CureVac issued a statement on Sunday, in which it said: "The company rejects current rumors of an acquisition".

 

CureVac's main investor Dietmar Hopp said he was not selling and wanted CureVac to develop a coronavirus vaccine to "help people not just regionally but in solidarity across the world."

 

"I would be glad if this could be achieved through my long-term investments out of Germany," he added.

 

Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine. This report produced by Zachary Goelman.

 

A German Economy Ministry spokeswoman said Berlin "has a great interest" in producing vaccines in Germany and Europe.

 

She cited Germany's foreign trade law, under which Berlin can examine takeover bids from non-EU, so-called third countries "if national or European security interests are at stake".

 

EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE

Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac's chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week the company had started with a multitude of coronavirus vaccine candidates and was now selecting the two best to go into clinical trials.

 

The privately-held company based in Tuebingen, Germany hopes to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.

 

On its website, CureVac said CEO Daniel Menichella early this month met Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and senior representatives of pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discuss a vaccine.

 

CureVac in 2015 and 2018 secured financial backing for development projects from its investor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working on shots to prevent malaria and influenza.

 

In the field of so-called mRNA therapeutics, CureVac competes with U.S. biotech firm Moderna and German rival BioNTech, which Pfizer <PFE.N> has identified as a potential collaboration partner.

 

Drugs based on mRNA provide a type of genetic blueprint that can be injected into the body to instruct cells to produce the desired therapeutic proteins. That contrasts with the conventional approach of making these proteins in labs and bio-reactors.

 

In the case of vaccines, the mRNA prompts body cells to produce so-called antigens, the tell-tale molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.

 

Companies working on other coronavirus-vaccine approaches include Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> and INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. <INO.O>.

 

(Additional reporting by Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Alexander Smith)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-16

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[lannarebirth]

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-administration-tried-to-pay-germans-scientists-for-coronavirus-cure-2020-3

 

[franzs]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

A U.S. official said: "This story is wildly overplayed ... We will continue to talk to any company that claims to be able to help. And any solution found would be shared with the world."

 

 

.... but: America first................

[Rookiescot]

At a time when the whole world faces a crises, rather than working in partnership with all governments Trump tries to corner the market and get exclusive access to a potential life saving drug.

He is an absolute clown.

[Nyezhov]

would you rather have us with it, or China? Think we would ever threaten folks by withholding medicine (outside war or its equivalent)?

[bristolboy]

4 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

would you rather have us with it, or China? Think we would ever threaten folks by withholding medicine (outside war or its equivalent)?

Because Germany would let that happen? Such nonsense. The stuff of potboilers, not reality.

[Boomer6969]

8 minutes ago, franzs said:

 

 

.... but: America first................

Indeed, these two words together present a  threat to the planet much greater than any virus. Maybe we the coronavirus might end up saving lives through a timely revelation of the potentially lethal extent of the nationalism developing in some countries.

[cmsally]

Some off topic name calling posts removed.

[JustAnotherHun]

Actions like this will surely tighten the ties between our western countries which would be badly needed in times of upcoming China and the aggressive islamistic threats to our freedom and lifestyle.

Edited March 16, 2020 by JustAnotherHun

[lannarebirth]

32 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

would you rather have us with it, or China? Think we would ever threaten folks by withholding medicine (outside war or its equivalent)?

I didn't use to think that but I do now.

[VocalNeal]

36 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Think we would ever threaten folks by withholding medicine (outside war or its equivalent)?

Churchill: 

"You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else." 

[Nyezhov]

Just now, VocalNeal said:

Churchill: 

"You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else." 

Churchill:

Help! here come the Germans again.

[CharlieH]

Reported Troll post removed

[paddypower]

38 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said:

Actions like this will surely tighten the ties between our western countries which would be badly needed in times of upcoming China and the aggressive islamistic threats to our freedom and lifestyle.

Aggressive nationalism, like MAGA and Brexit are threats to your rosy picture of the Western world.

[Susco]

Unbelievable how far a big mouthed liar wants to go to secure his re-election, only to be able to claim during his campaigns that HE secured the development of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by an American company

[bristolboy]

8 minutes ago, paddypower said:

Aggressive nationalism, like MAGA and Brexit are threats to your rosy picture of the Western world.

I believe that justanotherhun was being sarcastic. To judge from his like, it looks like Nyezhov didn't get it.

[sanuk711]

Guys,  try to remember where these red hot tips are coming from........our usual undercover informant...= Mr unknown Sources

 

Welt am Sonntag quoted an unidentified source ..........

..A spokeswoman said ..............

She (unknown spokesperson) cited Germany's foreign trade law ...........

 

There is only one report (The Business Insider )that actually quotes their source----

CureVac said it has been in contact with many organizations and global authorities, but denied "rumors of an acquisition" in a statement Sunday.

[welovesundaysatspace]

48 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

Guys,  try to remember where these red hot tips are coming from........our usual undercover informant...= Mr unknown Sources

No, the German government and the owner of CureVac (the German billionaire founder of SAP). And even an “undercover informant” would be a more credible source than the pathological liars of The Chaos Family. 

[FritsSikkink]

2 hours ago, Rookiescot said:

At a time when the whole world faces a crises, rather than working in partnership with all governments Trump tries to corner the market and get exclusive access to a potential life saving drug.

He is an absolute clown.

And trying to make a huge amount of money from it. Hope the Germans tell to get lost.

[welovesundaysatspace]

2 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

And trying to make a huge amount of money from it. Hope the Germans tell to get lost.

The owner of CureVac responded: “In case we, hopefully, can develop a vaccine, it shall reach and protect people not exclusively in one region, but in solidarity across the whole world.” 

[sanuk711]

7 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

the owner of CureVac (the German billionaire founder of SAP). And even an “undercover informant” would be a more credible source than the pathological liars of The Chaos Famil

The owner of the curevac and founder is the one quoted as denying any such thing is happening...................

 

There is only one report (The Business Insider )that actually quotes their source----

CureVac said it has been in contact with many organizations and global authorities, but denied "rumors of an acquisition" in a statement Sunday.

[metempsychotic]

2 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

would you rather have us with it, or China? Think we would ever threaten folks by withholding medicine (outside war or its equivalent)?

Not for profit, surely, otherwise, not so sure.

 

We arent talking about america here, we are talking about trump, and what that man is capable of.

[welovesundaysatspace]

On 3/16/2020 at 11:22 AM, sanuk711 said:

The owner of the curevac and founder is the one quoted as denying any such thing is happening...................

 

There is only one report (The Business Insider )that actually quotes their source----

CureVac said it has been in contact with many organizations and global authorities, but denied "rumors of an acquisition" in a statement Sunday.

As I said already, it was confirmed by the German government, and both the founder of CureVac as well as its MD said what I quoted above: “In case we, hopefully, can develop a vaccine, it shall reach and protect people not exclusively in one region, but in solidarity across the whole world.”

 

And we all know what gangster we are dealing with; even without the mentioned confirmations no one would doubt that this is exactly what he does. 

[ThomasThBKK]

10 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

As I said already, it was confirmed by the German government, and both the founder of CureVac as well as its MD said what I quoted above: “In case we, hopefully, can develop a vaccine, it shall reach and protect people not exclusively in one region, but in solidarity across the whole world.”

 

And we all know what gangster we are dealing with; even without the mentioned confirmations no one would doubt that this is exactly what he does. 

Also there's a reason the US CEO got sacked and the german founder is the CEO now again, that obviously didn't happen for no reason.

[mercman24]

Mean to say that the US with all their expertise and not doing their own research, I would hope every countries labs are trying their best to come up with a vaccine

[Opl]

15 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Also there's a reason the US CEO got sacked and the german founder is the CEO now again, that obviously didn't happen for no reason.

the former CEO was personally invited by Trump on March 3 to the White House to discuss "strategies and opportunities aimed at the rapid development of a vaccine against the coronavirus", according to a press release from this laboratory.

[Berkshire]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

CureVac in 2015 and 2018 secured financial backing for development projects from its investor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working on shots to prevent malaria and influenza.

An interesting US connection.  Its not the US government, but a US foundation....a liberal one at that. 

[welovesundaysatspace]

2 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

An interesting US connection.  Its not the US government, but a US foundation....a liberal one at that. 

If you read your own quote, the Gates foundation provided financial backing in 2015 and 2018 for Malaria and Influenza research. 

[RichardColeman]

If America banned European travellers they could not get there anyway !

[Mavideol]

3 hours ago, franzs said:

 

 

.... but: America first................

and never a quid pro quo.... all with good intentions but TRUMP first  (sarcasm intended)