U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a press conference on the coronavirus at the White House in Washington D.C., the US, on Wednesday. Photo: Xinhua

The US and Germany are vying to produce an exclusive vaccine against the coronavirus which is being developed in a German laboratory, Die Welt daily reported Saturday.

According to the paper, US President Donald Trump is trying to poach German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against a global health threat that has now killed some 5,500 people with a view to having an exclusive license rolled out in the US.  

Such a vaccine would be "only for the United States," a source close to the German government told Die Welt, though Berlin would reportedly be looking to make offers of its own to biotech firm CureVac, based in the German state of Thuringia.

The company, which was founded in 2000, has other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.

The firm markets itself as specializing in "development of treatments against cancer, antibody-based therapies, treatment of rare illnesses and prophylactic vaccines."

The lab is currently working in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, linked to the German ministry of health. 

It specializes in vaccine research.

"The German government is very interested in having the development of vaccines and active substances against the novel coronavirus undertaken in Germany and Europe," a health ministry spokesman told Die Welt, adding that the government was in "intensive" talks with CureVac. 

"We are very confident that weCureVac will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," said CureVac CEO Daniel Menichella following his visit to the White House on March 2.

Since that meeting in Washington, CureVac's founder, Ingmar Hoerr, has taken over as CEO.

AFP