'Not for sale': Germany has reacted furiously to Trump's attempts to poach German scientists working on a coronavirus vaccine
Thomas Colson
Reuters
Germany is furious about reports that President Donald Trump offered German scientists "a billion dollars" for exclusive rights to a coronavirus vaccine to be used "only for the USA."
Germany is furious about reports that President Donald Trump offered German scientists "a billion dollars" for exclusive rights to a coronavirus vaccine to be used "only for the USA."
The German government said the reports were accurate.
The Trump administration, however, said claims the US would not share the vaccine had been "wildly overplayed."
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German government ministers have reacted furiously to reports the Trump administration has tried to buy exclusive rights to a coronavirus vaccine being developed by a German firm.
An explosive report in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag cited German government sources as saying the Trump administration offered a "billion dollars" to secure exclusive rights to a coronavirus vaccine being developed by the firm CureVac, "but only for the USA."
The German health ministry told Reuters the report was accurate: "We confirm the report in the Welt am Sonntag," a representative said.
Following the report, Germany's foreign minister, Heiko Maas, insisted on Sunday that the government would not allow President Donald Trump to push ahead with such a plan.
"German researchers play a leading role in drug and vaccine development, and we cannot allow others to seek exclusive results," he told the media group Funke.
"Germany is not for sale," the country's economy minister, Peter Altmaier, told the broadcaster ARD on Sunday, according to AFP.
Karl Lauterbach, a senior German politician and professor of health economics and epidemiology, tweeted in response to the story: "The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits."
A US official told AFP on Sunday that the report was "wildly overplayed" and denied any vaccine would be exclusive to the US.
"We will continue to talk to any company that claims to be able to help," the person said. "And any solution found would be shared with the world."
Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac's chief production officer and cofounder, told Reuters last week that the company hoped to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July so it could seek permission to start testing on humans.
He said a low-dose vaccine that the company hoped to develop could make it suitable for mass production within CureVac's existing facilities.
In a statement last week, CureVac said its outgoing CEO, Daniel Menichella, had been invited to the White House for a meeting with Trump to discuss strategies and opportunities for the production of a coronavirus vaccine.
"We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," Menichella said in a statement.
CureVac denied "rumors of an acquisition" in a Sunday statement. The firm said it had been in contact with many organizations and global authorities but "abstains from commenting on speculations and rejects allegations about offers for the acquisition of the company or its technology."
Trump 'offers large sums' for exclusive access to coronavirus vaccine
German government tries to fight off aggressive takeover bid by US, say reports
Philip Oltermann in Berlin@philipoltermann Mon 16 Mar 2020
A researcher at the German biopharmaceutical
company CureVac demonstrates work on a
vaccine for the coronavirus at its laboratory in Tübingen.
Photograph: Andreas Gebert/Reuters
The Trump administration has offered a German medical company “large sums of money” for exclusive access to a Covid-19 vaccine, German media have reported.
The German government is trying to fight off what it sees as an aggressive takeover bid by the US, the broadsheet Die Welt reports, citing German government circles.
The US president had offered the Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac “large sums of money” to gain exclusive access to their work, wrote Die Welt.Q&A
How can I protect myself from the coronavirus outbreak?Show
According to an anonymous source quoted in the newspaper, Trump was doing everything to secure a vaccine against the coronavirus for the US, “but for the US only”.
The German government was reportedly offering its own financial incentives for the vaccine to stay in the country.
The German health minister Jens Spahn said that a takeover of the CureVac company by the Trump administration was “off the table”. CureVac would only develop vaccine “for the whole world”, Spahn said, “not for individual countries”.
Earlier, when approached about the report by the Guardian, the German health ministry would only confirm the accuracy of the quotes attributed to one of its spokespersons in the article.
“The federal government is very interested in vaccines and antiviral agents against the novel coronavirus being developed in Germany and Europe,” the spokesperson quoted in the original article had said. “In this regard the government is in an intensive exchange with the company CureVac.”
The German health ministry spokesperson declined the opportunity to correct any inaccuracies in Die Welt’s account.
With its headquarters in the south-western German city of Tübingen, CureVac also has sites in Frankfurt and Boston in the US. Linked with the German health ministry, it works closely with the Paul Ehrlich Institute, a research institution and medical regulatory body that is subordinate to the German health ministry.
On 11 March, CureVac released a statement that its CEO, the US citizen Daniel Menichella, was unexpectedly leaving the firm and would be replaced by the company’s founder, Ingmar Hoerr.
At the start of the month, Menichella was invited to the White House in Washington to discuss strategy for the rapid development and production of a coronavirus vaccine with Trump, the vice-president, Mike Pence, and members of the White House coronavirus task force.
The White House has been contacted for comment.
President Trump reportedly tried to poach German scientists working on a cure for coronavirus and offered cash so the vaccine would be exclusive to the US
AFP•March 14, 2020
US President Donald Trump (C, pictured with members of the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House) reportedly is trying to poach German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against the virus (AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)More
Berlin (AFP) - The United States and Germany are vying to produce an exclusive vaccine against the coronavirus which is being developed in a German laboratory, Die Welt daily reported Saturday
According to the paper, US President Donald Trump is trying to poach German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against a global health threat that has now killed some 5,500 people with a view to having an exclusive licence rolled out in the United States.
Such a vaccine would be "only for the United States," a source close to the German government told Die Welt, though Berlin would reportedly is looking to make offers of its own to biotech firm CureVac, based in the German state of Thuringia.
The company, founded in 2000, has other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.-
The firm markets itself as specialising in "development of treatments against cancer, antibody-based therapies, treatment of rare illnesses and prophylactic vaccines."
The lab is currently working in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, linked to the German ministry of health.
It specialises in vaccine research.
"The German government is very interested in having the development of vaccines and active substances against the novel coronavirus undertaken in Germany and Europe," a health ministry spokesman told Die Welt, adding that the government was in "intensive" talks with CureVac.
As CureVac CEO, Daniel Menichella found himself invited on March 2 to the White House to meet with Trump, his vice-president Mike Pence and representatives of pharma companies working on how to respond to the pandemic, the company revealed on its website without indicating if financial offers had been put on the table.
"We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," CureVac quoted Menichella -- who has since given way to founder and incoming CEO Ingmar Hoerr -- as saying following his Washington visit.
Photograph: Andreas Gebert/Reuters
The Trump administration has offered a German medical company “large sums of money” for exclusive access to a Covid-19 vaccine, German media have reported.
The German government is trying to fight off what it sees as an aggressive takeover bid by the US, the broadsheet Die Welt reports, citing German government circles.
The US president had offered the Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac “large sums of money” to gain exclusive access to their work, wrote Die Welt.Q&A
How can I protect myself from the coronavirus outbreak?Show
According to an anonymous source quoted in the newspaper, Trump was doing everything to secure a vaccine against the coronavirus for the US, “but for the US only”.
The German government was reportedly offering its own financial incentives for the vaccine to stay in the country.
The German health minister Jens Spahn said that a takeover of the CureVac company by the Trump administration was “off the table”. CureVac would only develop vaccine “for the whole world”, Spahn said, “not for individual countries”.
Earlier, when approached about the report by the Guardian, the German health ministry would only confirm the accuracy of the quotes attributed to one of its spokespersons in the article.
“The federal government is very interested in vaccines and antiviral agents against the novel coronavirus being developed in Germany and Europe,” the spokesperson quoted in the original article had said. “In this regard the government is in an intensive exchange with the company CureVac.”
The German health ministry spokesperson declined the opportunity to correct any inaccuracies in Die Welt’s account.
With its headquarters in the south-western German city of Tübingen, CureVac also has sites in Frankfurt and Boston in the US. Linked with the German health ministry, it works closely with the Paul Ehrlich Institute, a research institution and medical regulatory body that is subordinate to the German health ministry.
On 11 March, CureVac released a statement that its CEO, the US citizen Daniel Menichella, was unexpectedly leaving the firm and would be replaced by the company’s founder, Ingmar Hoerr.
At the start of the month, Menichella was invited to the White House in Washington to discuss strategy for the rapid development and production of a coronavirus vaccine with Trump, the vice-president, Mike Pence, and members of the White House coronavirus task force.
The White House has been contacted for comment.
President Trump reportedly tried to poach German scientists working on a cure for coronavirus and offered cash so the vaccine would be exclusive to the US
Business Insider•March 15, 2020
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
President Donald Trump reportedly tried to poach German scientists working on a cure for the coronavirus so he could secure exclusive rights to a potential vaccine for the US only.
Newspaper WELT am Sonntag reported that Trump's administration had offered large sums of cash to Germany-based biotech company CureVac to secure rights for the vaccine work, "but only for the USA."
The German government is battling back, offering financial incentives to the company to remain in Germany.
Karl Lauterbach, a senior German politician and professor of epidemiology, said in response to the report: "The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits."
CureVac said it has been in contact with many organizations and global authorities, but denied "rumors of an acquisition" in a statement Sunday to Business Insider.
President Trump reportedly tried to recruit German scientists working on a cure for the coronavirus and offered large sums of money to secure exclusive rights to their work for the US, according to a report which was confirmed by the German government.
Prominent German newspaper WELT am Sonntag reported that Trump had offered large sums of money to lure the Germany-based company CureVac to the United States and to secure exclusive rights to a vaccine.
The firm works with the federally-owned Paul Ehrlich Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Medicines on a cure for the coronavirus.
CureVac denied "rumors of an acquisition" in a March 15 statement. The biotech company said it has been in contact with many organizations and global authorities, but "abstains from commenting on speculations and rejects allegations about offers for acquisition of the company or its technology."
A German government source said Trump was trying hard to find a coronavirus vaccine for the United States, "but only for the USA."
The newspaper said the German government is fighting back by offering financial incentives to the company if it remains in Germany.
A German health ministry spokesperson told WELT am Sonntag that the government was involved in "intensive" discussions with CureVac about keeping the company headquartered in the UK.
"The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe," the newspaper quoted a Health Ministry official as saying.
"In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac."
In a separate statement, the health ministry told Reuters that the WELT am Sonntag report was accurate: "We confirm the report in the WELT am Sonntag," a spokesperson said.
Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac's chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week that the company hoped to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July so they could seek permission to start testing on humans.
He said a low-dose vaccine that the company hoped to develop could make it suitable for mass production within CureVac's existing facilities.
In a statement last week, CureVac said that outgoing chief executive Daniel Menichella had been invited to the White House for a meeting with President Trump to discuss strategies and opportunities for the production of a coronavirus vaccine.
"We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," Menichella said in a statement.
Karl Lauterbach, a senior German politician and professor of health economics and epidemiology, tweeted in response to the story: "The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits."
Germany tries to halt U.S. interest in firm working on coronavirus vaccine
Paul Carrel, Andreas Rinke
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.
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).
US, Germany battle for virus vaccine surpremacyPresident Donald Trump reportedly tried to poach German scientists working on a cure for the coronavirus so he could secure exclusive rights to a potential vaccine for the US only.
Newspaper WELT am Sonntag reported that Trump's administration had offered large sums of cash to Germany-based biotech company CureVac to secure rights for the vaccine work, "but only for the USA."
The German government is battling back, offering financial incentives to the company to remain in Germany.
Karl Lauterbach, a senior German politician and professor of epidemiology, said in response to the report: "The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits."
CureVac said it has been in contact with many organizations and global authorities, but denied "rumors of an acquisition" in a statement Sunday to Business Insider.
President Trump reportedly tried to recruit German scientists working on a cure for the coronavirus and offered large sums of money to secure exclusive rights to their work for the US, according to a report which was confirmed by the German government.
Prominent German newspaper WELT am Sonntag reported that Trump had offered large sums of money to lure the Germany-based company CureVac to the United States and to secure exclusive rights to a vaccine.
The firm works with the federally-owned Paul Ehrlich Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Medicines on a cure for the coronavirus.
CureVac denied "rumors of an acquisition" in a March 15 statement. The biotech company said it has been in contact with many organizations and global authorities, but "abstains from commenting on speculations and rejects allegations about offers for acquisition of the company or its technology."
A German government source said Trump was trying hard to find a coronavirus vaccine for the United States, "but only for the USA."
The newspaper said the German government is fighting back by offering financial incentives to the company if it remains in Germany.
A German health ministry spokesperson told WELT am Sonntag that the government was involved in "intensive" discussions with CureVac about keeping the company headquartered in the UK.
"The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe," the newspaper quoted a Health Ministry official as saying.
"In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac."
In a separate statement, the health ministry told Reuters that the WELT am Sonntag report was accurate: "We confirm the report in the WELT am Sonntag," a spokesperson said.
Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac's chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week that the company hoped to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July so they could seek permission to start testing on humans.
He said a low-dose vaccine that the company hoped to develop could make it suitable for mass production within CureVac's existing facilities.
In a statement last week, CureVac said that outgoing chief executive Daniel Menichella had been invited to the White House for a meeting with President Trump to discuss strategies and opportunities for the production of a coronavirus vaccine.
"We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," Menichella said in a statement.
Karl Lauterbach, a senior German politician and professor of health economics and epidemiology, tweeted in response to the story: "The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits."
Germany tries to halt U.S. interest in firm working on coronavirus vaccine
Paul Carrel, Andreas Rinke
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.
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).
AFP•March 14, 2020
US President Donald Trump (C, pictured with members of the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House) reportedly is trying to poach German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against the virus (AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)More
Berlin (AFP) - The United States and Germany are vying to produce an exclusive vaccine against the coronavirus which is being developed in a German laboratory, Die Welt daily reported Saturday
According to the paper, US President Donald Trump is trying to poach German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against a global health threat that has now killed some 5,500 people with a view to having an exclusive licence rolled out in the United States.
Such a vaccine would be "only for the United States," a source close to the German government told Die Welt, though Berlin would reportedly is looking to make offers of its own to biotech firm CureVac, based in the German state of Thuringia.
The company, founded in 2000, has other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.-
The firm markets itself as specialising in "development of treatments against cancer, antibody-based therapies, treatment of rare illnesses and prophylactic vaccines."
The lab is currently working in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, linked to the German ministry of health.
It specialises in vaccine research.
"The German government is very interested in having the development of vaccines and active substances against the novel coronavirus undertaken in Germany and Europe," a health ministry spokesman told Die Welt, adding that the government was in "intensive" talks with CureVac.
As CureVac CEO, Daniel Menichella found himself invited on March 2 to the White House to meet with Trump, his vice-president Mike Pence and representatives of pharma companies working on how to respond to the pandemic, the company revealed on its website without indicating if financial offers had been put on the table.
"We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," CureVac quoted Menichella -- who has since given way to founder and incoming CEO Ingmar Hoerr -- as saying following his Washington visit.
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