CureVac downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink

Leerink downgraded CureVac to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $4, down from $12, following the company’s FY23 earnings, which included corporate restructuring and some modest pipeline updates. The firm struggles to find conviction in the path to upside, even after significant underperformance year-to-date, and step to the sidelines as timelines to major de-risking catalysts are extended and restructuring efforts will likely take some time to play out. Balance sheet pressure – runway to Q4 2025 implies CureVac will close in on a year or less of cash by the time of meaningful combination vaccine or oncology pipeline data, and IP timelines are murky – adds a further overhang, says Leerink.