The European Union’s pharmaceutical regulator said Friday it approved manufacturing sites for coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, a move that will significantly increase the supply of the vaccines in Europe and accelerate vaccination efforts in Europe. the continent.
The European Medicines Agency said in a statement that it had approved sites in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland for COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by pharmaceutical companies.
The 27-country bloc struggles to speed up vaccination against COVID-19, and against repeated delays in distribution and manufacturing problems.
The agency said it approved a plant in Leiden, the Netherlands, to make the active ingredient in the AstraZeneca vaccine, for a total of four licensed sites.
The EU regulator said it was also giving the green light to a site in Marburg, Germany, to make both the active ingredient and the complete vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer.
In addition, he added that it would give “more flexible storage conditions” to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was approved knowing that it needs extremely cold temperatures to be stored and distributed.
“(The approval) is anticipated to facilitate the rapid introduction and distribution of the vaccine in the EU by reducing the need for ultra-low temperature storage conditions throughout the supply chain,” the regulator said.
Last week, a committee of experts at the agency recommended new manufacturing lines at a facility in Visp, Switzerland, for Moderna Inc.’s vaccine.
These changes are “intended to increase the production capacity and supply of the vaccine in the EU market,” the regulator said.
On Thursday, EU leaders failed to resolve a dispute over the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines among member states, but vowed to intensify controls on the export of the vaccine and its production on EU territory in a time when doses are scarce and new cases are on the rise.
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