CureVac says COVID vaccine produced immune response in early

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Germany's CureVac AG said on Friday its second-generation COVID-19 vaccine produced virus-neutralizing antibodies against the BA.1 subvariant of Omicron, based on preliminary data from an early-stage trial.

The vaccine maker's U.S.-listed shares jumped 11% to $7.08 in premarket trading.

CureVac is developing the vaccine with Britain's GSK (GSK.L) and the companies are looking to catch-up to similar vaccine development by rivals.

The company said the vaccine was shown to be generally well tolerated in the trial. Younger adults showed the presence of neutralizing antibodies beginning at the lowest tested dose, data showed.

CureVac gave up on its first-generation vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, in 2021 after poor data.

"With this foundation, CureVac will turn the page and enter 2023 as a competitive player in the development of mRNA therapies," Chief Executive Franz-Werner Haas said.

The company also said its flu vaccine, which also uses mRNA technology, successfully boosted antibody levels against flu and was well-tolerated in an early-stage study.

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