LONDON: US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said on Wednesday that documents related to their development of a COVID-19 vaccine had been"unlawfully accessed" in a cyberattack on Europe's medicines regulator.
The two companies said they had been informed by the EMA"that the agency has been subject to a cyber attack and that some documents relating to the regulatory submission for Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate ... had been unlawfully accessed." But the vaccine is still being studied by the European Union. The EMA has said it would complete its review by Dec 29, although it has said its schedule may change.
Reuters has previously reported on allegations that hackers linked to North Korea, South Korea, Iran, Vietnam, China and Russia have on separate occasions tried to steal information about the virus and potential treatments.