The chief executive of CureVac said Thursday that interim results from late-stage testing of its coronavirus shot are �sobering,� but the German company aims to finish a final analysis within weeks that will determine whether it will still seek regulatory approval.

CureVac announced late Wednesday that the vaccine had shown an efficacy of 47% against COVID-19 of any severity, according to a partial review of data from its trial involving 40,000 participants in Latin America and Europe. This is below the World Health Organization threshold of 50%.

The biotechnology company said more than two dozen variants of the coronavirus were found in its trial across 10 countries, a fact that may have affected the outcome.

�The results are sobering,� said chief executive Franz-Werner Haas. �We recognize that demonstrating high efficacy in this unprecedented broad diversity of variance is quite challenging.�

Still, CureVac said it will continue to analyze data from the trial and this may affect the final outcome.

�We are going full-speed for final readout,� said Haas, adding that the company expects to reach that point in 2-3 weeks.

Meanwhile, CureVac is also working on a second-generation vaccine, aiming to start trials this fall.

The German government, which invested 300 million euros ($358 million) in CureVac last year, said the disappointing results won�t affect its initial vaccine campaign.

Chancellor Angela Merkel�s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told media group RND that the government remains committed to offering every citizen a vaccine by the end of September.

(AP)