EU MEDICINES REGULATOR GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO OXFORD VACCINE Novartis to help make Pfizer-biontech vaccine

NEW DELHI/ AMSTERDAM: Europe’s medicines regulator on Friday okayed the Oxford-astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine for people over the age of 18, the third vaccine to be cleared for use in the EU. It showed an efficacy of 60% in the trials on which the decision was based, the European Medicines Agency said.

“With this third positive opinion, we have further expanded the arsenal of vaccines available to EU and EEA member states to combat the pandemic,” said Emer Cooke, executive director of the EMA.

Swiss pharma giant Novartis has signed an initial deal to help produce the Pfizer-biontech vaccine. Novartis has facilities in India and it was not immediately clear if the company plans to use them for the vaccine. “The Novartis site in Stein, Switzerland will be part of the manufacturing supply chain. Discussions are underway to provide support via other sites in our network. However, these discussions are at an early stage and further details are not yet available,” a spokesperson told HT.