EU is examining Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

• The European Health Regulator is examining a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
• Pfizer’s vaccine is under assessment in comprehensive studies in different countries.
• Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, called BNT162b2, requires ribonucleic acid while, AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s vaccine, AZD1222 uses a weakened version of a chimpanzee common cold virus.

THDNewsDesk, Europe: The European Health Regulator is examining a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer NSE 0.85 % and BioNTech instantaneously. A similar process was undertaken, for AstraZeneca NSE -0.28 %’s vaccine after a few days.

On Tuesday, The European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated that its human medicines board was assessing the first batch of data. Until enough data is obtainable for a final decision, the board will continue the process of evaluation.

Pfizer and BioNTech, jointly stated that the beginning of the evaluation is established on data from laboratory and animal testing, also the data from the early testing on humans while advancing discussion to submit data as it arose.

The EMA is utilising “rolling reviews” to hasten assessment of vaccines during a pandemic by analysing data as it is submitted, instead of arranging all the data to be accessible with a formal application.

Last week, it began examining AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s vaccine, AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, by developing the prospects of the British vaccine to be the first vaccine, permitted in the region for the disease which has killed over a million people worldwide.

However, AZD1222 requires a weakened version of a chimpanzee common cold virus to build immunity against COVID-19. While, Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, called BNT162b2, requires ribonucleic acid, a chemical messenger that carries instructions for making proteins.

When injected in people, BNT162b2 commands cells to create proteins that imitate the outer surface of the novel coronavirus, which the body acknowledges as an intruder and boosts an immune response against it.

Currently, Pfizer’s vaccine is under assessment in comprehensive studies in different countries like the United States, Brazil, South Africa and Argentina.

Source- Economic Times