CureVac shares surge following IPO

Shares in German pharmaceutical group CureVac surged ahead of the bell on Monday after having raised $213.0m in a US stock market listing on Friday.

CureVac will use three-quarters of the money raised in its initial public offering to cover costs associated with developing a potential vaccine for Covid-19, with the remaining $50.0m to go towards expanding short-term production capacity.

The company has also ruled out selling its vaccine candidate at cost, stating it would instead make the drug available at an "ethical margin" for shareholders.

"That would allow us to give a competitive price while still preserving some ethical margin," said chief financial officer Pierre Kemula.

"We can't do it at cost. We have investors putting money for ten years into the company so there should be a little return," he added, without detailing what exactly the margin would be.

"Mobilising the company around the cause is great, but it precludes the company from doing other things," Kemula said. "Having a small margin is fair."

CureVac was said to have attracted the interest of the White House administration earlier in 2020 but Berlin moved to block any foreign takeover attempts and poured €300.0m into the firm in exchange for a 23% stake.

The drugmaker is conducting phase one trials of its vaccine candidate on 168 people.

As of 1315 BST, CureVac shares were up 42.56% in pre-market trade at $79.69 each.