The Tübingen vaccine manufacturer CureVac has suffered a major setback in the development of its corona vaccine.
In an interim analysis, it was only 47 percent effective.
The likelihood that data beyond the 90 percent achieved by competitors such as BioNTech will be achieved by the planned completion of the clinical review is probably rather low.
This is initially disappointing, after all, the state invested hundreds of millions of euros in CureVac last year because the company appeared to be ahead in vaccine research and other states allegedly also showed interest.
The reason for the participation was always based on shaky ground, but the tax money is not (yet) wasted as a result.
It's going to need refresher
What many misunderstand: There are setbacks in science, but nothing is lost forever - not even with CureVac's flop.
After all, the past few months have impressively shown that the coronavirus with its umpteen variants will continue to accompany us.
There is an urgent need for booster vaccinations.
For this second generation of vaccines, CureVac is in a good starting position.
In the large clinical study, which did not start until the end of 2020, months after that of the competitors, important data and findings on many variants were and will be collected.
Knowing what didn't work also helps.
After all, CureVac has been working on booster vaccinations with the large pharmaceutical company Glaxo-Smith-Kline for some time.
It plans to start clinical development soon and launch it next year.
This is where the people of Tübingen also learned from mistakes.
This time you looked for a strong partner early on who is familiar with approvals, authorities and large studies, instead of waiting months and just working on your own.
CureVac could even benefit from not producing in large series so far. Because while BioNTech with Pfizer, Moderna and others have planned their capacities for several years, CureVac could concentrate directly on booster vaccinations.