Security News > 2020 > December > Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine documents accessed in EMA cyberattack
The European Medicines Agency responsible for COVID-19 vaccine approval has suffered a cyberattack of an undisclosed nature, according to a statement posted on their website.
The EMA is a decentralized agency for the European Union responsible for evaluating, monitoring, and supervising new medicines introduced to the EU. In a statement on their website, the European Medicines Agency has stated that they have suffered a cyberattack and are investigating with law enforcement.
"EMA cannot provide additional details whilst the investigation is ongoing. Further information will be made available in due course," the EMA website disclosed about the attack.
In a joint statement from Pfizer and BioNTech, the companies disclosed that some documents related to their COVID-19 submissions were accessed by the threat actors during EMA's cyberattack.
"Today, we were informed by the European Medicines Agency that the agency has been subject to a cyberattack and that some documents relating to the regulatory submission for Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, which has been stored on an EMA server, had been unlawfully accessed," Pfizer's and BioNTech's joint statement read. The Agency has been thrust into the spotlight recently as they evaluate COVID-19 vaccines for approval in the EU. They are currently reviewing the applications for Pfizer's and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines.