Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has confirmed his upcoming trip to Germany. During this trip, he will visit the Gigafactory site in Berlin, but not only that. This trip is also part of a partnership with the biotech company CureVac, which is carrying out research that may lead to the development of a vaccine to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
A visit with two objectives
Expected for the summer 2021, Tesla’s European Gigafactory will be installed in the region of Berlin (Germany). Responding to a question posted on Twitter on August 30, 2020, Elon Musk said he was about to travel to Germany to visit the Gigafactory site. However, the trip is also part of a partnership between Tesla and biotech company CureVac. Elon Musk will therefore visit the premises of this company to meet with the teams of researchers.
Tesla and CureVac are working on future messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) printers. Remember that messenger RNA is a transient copy of a portion of DNA corresponding to one or more genes. Messenger RNA vaccines are currently among the most promising with regard to the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In addition, CureVac recently joined the American company Moderna Therapeutics, whose research is based on the same principle.
Produce a vaccine on a large scale
In July 2020, Tesla and CureVac presented a pending patent for an RNA bioreactor. According to both parties, this is a potentially revolutionary machine in the field. The goal? Produce a vaccine in large quantities, a vaccine which will obviously have passed all the test phases beforehand. The RNA printer discussed here is transportable, automated, and capable of producing several hundred doses in just a few weeks.
Founded in 2000, Curevac has not marketed any product since. So it appears that its work on messenger RNA has only recently paid off, as the company recently completed its IPO on the NASDAQ and was valued at $ 2.7 billion. In addition, Tesla’s support and Elon Musk’s visit are a sign of confidence and seriousness, while providing some media coverage. Finally, Musk also said that Tesla has been working with CureVac since last year. Thus, this collaboration began long before the current health crisis.
