GSK and Curevac have announced the restructuring of their existing partnership into a new licensing agreement which will see GSK take full control of the development and manufacturing of mRNA vaccine candidates.

The strategic move allows both companies to concentrate their investment and development efforts on their respective mRNA technology platforms.

The companies partnered in 2020 to develop mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases.

Through this deal, they are now advancing vaccine candidates for seasonal influenza, Covid-19 and avian influenza.

GSK will have worldwide commercialisation rights for vaccine candidates which are currently in Phase II for seasonal influenza and Covid-19, and in Phase I for avian influenza.

The vaccines utilise CureVac's second-generation mRNA backbone, with data indicating their potential to lead the market as new vaccines.

CureVac is entitled to an upfront payment of €400m ($429.2m) and could earn up to €1.05bn on meeting development, regulatory and sales milestones.

The deal also includes tiered royalties for CureVac.

The new arrangement supersedes all financial terms from the previous collaboration between the two companies.

GSK chief scientific officer Tony Wood stated: “We are excited about our flu/Covid-19 programmes and the opportunity to develop best-in-class mRNA vaccines to change the standard of care.

“With this new agreement, we will apply GSK’s capabilities, partnerships and intellectual property to CureVac’s technology, to deliver these promising vaccines at pace.”

CureVac will retain the sole rights to other undisclosed infectious disease targets that were part of the previous partnership.

The company also maintains the freedom to develop and partner its mRNA vaccines independently in any other infectious disease or indication.

In July 2023, Curevac asserted an intellectual property right claim for mRNA technology in addition to those previously filed that are part of ongoing litigation with Pfizer/BioNTech in two jurisdictions.