The European Commission has contracted pharma companies including Pfizer to reserve capacity to make up to 325 million vaccines per year in case of a future global health emergency.
Tag Archive for: European Union
Earlier this year, the EU extended the deadline for companies until 2027 or 2028, depending on the device, to comply with the law requiring companies to recertify their products. This came amid reports from doctors that the new legislation was causing shortages of lifesaving equipment because small companies making devices for small numbers of patients could not afford the new compliance process.
Merck had requested the regulator’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) to re-examine the application for molnupiravir, which is sold under the brand Lagevrio in several countries, after CHMP advised against its market authorization in February.
The approval on Wednesday by the European Commission, which follows a recent endorsement from the European Medicines Agency, comes about a month after the U.S. health regulator gave the drug Arexvy the green light.
The amendment cuts the number of COVID-19 vaccines that the EU must buy and pushes the delivery deadline to 2026.
The European Union and the United States have launched a new joint health task force to cooperate on cancer, global health threats and related supply chains and infrastructure, officials told a press conference today.
The move comes as the bloc plans to revamp laws governing the $148 billion pharmaceuticals industry in the hope of reviving investment and boosting access to affordable drugs at a time when health budgets are drained by the costs of treating COVID-19.
Brussels on Wednesday published a long-awaited draft of its proposed overhaul of laws governing the European Union’s pharmaceuticals industry, setting up a tussle with drugmakers which warn they will invest and innovate elsewhere.
British drugmaker GSK on Wednesday warned that the overhaul of laws governing the EU’s pharmaceuticals industry risks forcing companies to invest and innovate elsewhere, which would hurt EU efforts to improve access to medicines.
The EU is revamping laws governing the 136 billion euro ($148 billion) pharmaceuticals industry aimed at reviving investment and boosting access to affordable drugs at a time when health budgets have been drained by the costs of treating COVID-19.
