Hackers Attack BioNTech Servers
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) repository was targeted by hackers seeking access to information on the BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. Pfizer says no damage has been done to systems and no data breach has occurred.
On Wednesday evening, December 9, the European Medicines Agency announced failed attempts by hackers to breach its information repositories related to the coronavirus vaccine. In a statement, the agency said that investigations by European authorities have begun to identify the source of the cyberattack, but details including the timing remain unclear.
The agency, which has been under the spotlight due to coronavirus vaccine approval, had previously reported on a cyberattack.
The European Medicines Agency stressed that hackers’ attempts will have no impact on experiments related to vaccine testing and distribution.
The organization, based in Amsterdam, is responsible for approving all medicines in the European Union, including the coronavirus vaccine. The agency is currently in the final stages of approving the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine and issuing authorization by the end of December 2020.
The BioNTech vaccine is the first vaccine in the world whose widespread use for protection against coronavirus began on December 8 in Britain.
American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its German pharmaceutical partner BioNTech had previously requested emergency approval from U.S. authorities to expedite distribution authorization of the coronavirus vaccine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee will deliberate on this request on Thursday, December 10.
According to statements from the managers of the two research and pharmaceutical companies BioNTech-Pfizer, the efficacy of their coronavirus vaccine is 95 percent.
The positive details they released regarding vaccine safety and potential side effects are considered the cornerstone for obtaining emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.
Source: DW
