CureVac will withdraw its first-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate and focus on collaborating with GSK to develop second-generation mRNA vaccine technology instead, the Germany-based biotechnology company said on Tuesday.

The company said it will withdraw its first-generation vaccine candidate CVnCoV, which failed late-stage trials with 47% accuracy in June, due to a potential overlap with approval timelines for a second-generation candidate.

The earliest potential approval of CVnCoV would have come in the second quarter of 2022 when the candidates from the second-generation vaccine program are expected to progress to late-stage clinical development by that time, CureVac said.