Financial regulator examine Curevac price crash

The crash of the Curevac share has called the financial regulator Bafin on the plan. The Bafin look at unusual price movements to determine whether there may be suspicions of market abuse or market manipulation, said a spokesman for the authorities. "I ask for your understanding that I am not commenting on a specific individual case." Curevac's share fell by more than 40 percent on Thursday after disappointing study results for the Covid vaccine from the Tübingen-based biotech company. The "Rheinische Post" had previously reported, citing industry circles, that the Bafin was investigating the suspicion that someone from the companies Curevac or Bayer could have used their insider knowledge and sold shares in good time. Bayer is a cooperation partner of Curevac. A Curevac spokeswoman said the company was not aware of any audit by the Bafin. "We were not contacted by the Bafin regarding any incidents." Curevac announced last week that its Covid-19 vaccine had only shown 47 percent effectiveness in the crucial clinical trial, according to preliminary data. After the data was announced, the share posted a record daily loss of around 44 percent, while the price drop last week was more than 30 percent. Despite the fall in the share price, from a financial point of view, nothing has changed in operational business and liquidity, said Curevac CEO Franz-Werner Haas on Friday. Investor Dietmar Hopp and the federal government as shareholders announced, despite the disappointing figures, that they would continue to want to hold onto the company. Curevac would like to complete the analysis of the data from the final study phase in the next one to two weeks. Haas was convinced that the effectiveness of the vaccine would change again.