Commission's approach of concluding contracts with several manufacturers is important / Commission today concluded exploratory talks with BioNtech

"The interruption of AstraZeneca's vaccine trial shows that the authorities in Europe and the companies are proceeding cautiously and not taking unnecessary risks in the development of a vaccine". This was stated by MEP Peter Liese, health spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats). "In contrast to the situation in Russia, we in the European Union have clear rules. A vaccine can only come onto the market if a large group of test persons (usually a five-digit number) has been tested in a so-called phase three trial and the vaccine has few side effects and is effective. In the case of AstraZeneca, it is now necessary to investigate whether the problems observed are indeed related to the vaccine and whether they can be avoided in future administrations and tests or whether the project must be abandoned altogether. I would not dare to make a prediction at this stage as to whether the vaccine will eventually be approved".  

Just from the experiences of today, the Commission's approach of concluding contracts with several manufacturers, who sometimes use completely different techniques, is important. Today the Commission concluded exploratory talks with BioNtech/Pfizer. Further discussions were concluded before with Sanofi-GSK, with Johnson & Johnson with CureVac and Moderna. “The strategy of the European Commission is the right one. Today’s reports show that we unfortunately cannot assume that we will suddenly have different safe and effective vaccines at our disposal, and we must at least be prepared for the fact that not all of these vaccines will be approved. Through the joint purchase of the vaccines, Europe can use its market power to the benefit of its citizens and through different agreements; we are doing everything possible to provide our citizens in Europe with a safe and effective vaccine as quickly as possible. Despite the first setbacks with one manufacturer I remain optimistic that we will achieve a first approval before the end of this year”, Liese concluded.