The president of the European Commission said on Tuesday that, after speaking to a German biotech firm, she hopes a vaccine against the novel coronavirus strain will be available this year.

Brussels’ top official Ursula von der Leyen has held talks with executives from CureVac, a company that has received an offer in EU financial support for its research.

The Commission offered up to €80 million of financial support to CureVac, a higly innovative vaccine developer from Tübingen, Germany, to scale up development and production of a vaccine against the Coronavirus in Europe. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, discussed with the CureVac management via videoconference. The Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Ambroise Fayolle, also participated. The support would come in form of an EU guarantee of a currently assessed EIB loan of an identical amount, in the framework of the InnovFin Infectious Disease Finance Facility under Horizon 2020.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “In this public health crisis it is of utmost importance that we support our leading researchers and tech companies. We are determined to provide CureVac with the financing it needs to quickly scale up development and production of a vaccine against the Coronavirus. I am proud that we have leading companies like CureVac in the EU. Their home is here. But their vaccines will benefit everyone, in Europe and beyond.”

"They are working on a promising technology to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus," the former German defence minister said in an online video message shortly before she was to join talks with the 27 EU leaders.

"The European Union is providing them up to 80 million euros and I hope that with this support we can have a vaccine on the market, perhaps before autumn. This could save lives in Europe and in the rest of the world too."

On Monday, CureVac denied newspaper reports that US President Donald Trump had offered to pay for exclusive rights to a coronavirus vaccine, and the German government says it has "dealt with" the situation.Today, the European Commission launched an advisory panel on COVID-19 composed of epidemiologists and virologists from different Member States to formulate EU guidelines on science-based and coordinated risk management measures. This panel, which was created following a mandate by EU Member States, will be chaired by the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and co-chaired by Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.

President von der Leyen said: "The coronavirus is rapidly changing our lives and societies. All governments have to take well-informed and appropriate decisions for the people of Europe every day. That is why scientific expertise and good advice is now more valuable than ever. I am very grateful to all the high-profile experts on the panel for putting their knowledge at the service of the community."

Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety said: “Together with our public health professionals, clinical practitioners, epidemiologists and virologists are at the forefront of the fight against the spread of COVID-19. Time and science matter if we want to win this fight. This panel will play an important role in the EU's medical response to the pandemic. Its work will complement and capitalise on the work of the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).”