European Union regulatory documents relating to the COVID-19 vaccine candidate made by Pfizer were “unlawfully accessed” by hackers, the pharma company’s German biotech partner says.
BioNTech, which has been developing the vaccine with Pfizer, said it was informed by the European Medicines Agency that cyberattackers targeted regulatory documents that were submitted to the agency for the vaccine.
Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking EU approval for their BNT162b2 coronavirus vaccine candidate, which this week won approvals for use in Britain and Canada.
U.S. regulators are also expected to give emergency approval for the vaccine in the next few days.
“At this time, we await further information about EMA’s investigation and will respond appropriately and in accordance with EU law,” BioNTech said in a statement late Wednesday. “EMA has assured us that the cyber attack will have no impact on the timeline for its review.”
The EMA said only that it had been the subject of a cyberattack.
