A German biotech firm on Monday flatly denied newspaper reports that US president Donald Trump had offered it a large sum of money for exclusive rights to a coronavirus vaccine. "CureVac has not received from the US government or related entities an offer before, during and since the Task Force meeting in the White House on March 2. CureVac rejects all allegations from press," the company tweeted. Citing sources close to the German government, Die Welt newspaper had previously reported that Trump had offered "a billion dollars" to secure research into a vaccine by CureVac "only for the United States". The report came shortly after the firm announced that CEO Daniel Menichella had been replaced by Ingmar Hoerr, just weeks after Menichella met with Trump and representatives of pharma companies in Washington. It prompted a furious response in Berlin, with government ministers lining up to condemn the alleged attempt to poach German research. "German researchers play a leading role in drug and vaccine development and we cannot allow others to seek exclusive results," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Funke media group. "Germany is not for sale," economy minister Peter Altmaier told broadcaster ARD on Sunday. In a more detailed statement on its website, CureVac added: "Internal efforts are focused on the development of a coronavirus vaccine with the goal to reach, help and to protect people and patients worldwide." On Sunday, a US official also told AFP that the report had been "wildly overplayed". kih/hmn/wai