Curavac

Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a rare, but not exceptional, autoimmune disease that is diagnosed (Prevalence) in one in seven thousand (1.33/10,000) to one per five thousand (2/10,000) of the population. On top of these existing cases, each year there are 15 new cases per 1,000,000 of the population (Incidence). In total, on a 5 years period, in Europe, U.S.A. and Japan alone, there are more than 250,000 MG patients that need treatments.

MG is characterized by muscular fatigue leading to extreme weakness. The fatigue is caused by the loss of ability to convert nerve impulses into muscle contraction. Underlying these symptoms is an autoimmune disease. The patient's immune system produces antibodies that attack the docking sites, or receptors, on the nerve/muscle interface.

As these receptor sites are destroyed, the neurotransmitter acetylcholine is increasingly unable to transmit the nerve impulse by attaching to a receptor site. While unattached it is rapidly broken down by the acetylcholinesterase enzyme. The nerve continues to send impulses until the muscle reacts and thus the nerve becomes exhausted (giving the sensation of muscle fatigue).

The disease affects muscles controlling voluntary movement including those associated with actions such as swallowing and breathing and usually begins in a mild form. Typical first symptoms are associated with the eyelid, sight, swallowing and speech. Focal MG usually develops more or less rapidly into generalised MG with symptoms that appear in the arms and abdomen and subsequently in the legs and respiratory muscles.

CuraVac is now raising funds to take the myasthenia gravis therapeutic vaccine through Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials.