Papers relating to Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine reportedly targeted in attack on European Medicines Agency

German biotech firm BioNTech said on Wednesday that documents relating to the Covid-19 vaccine it has developed with Pfizer were “unlawfully accessed” after a cyber-attack on Europe’s medicines regulator.

Earlier, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) – which is responsible for assessing and approving vaccines for the European Union – said it had been targeted in a cyber-attack. It gave no further details.

It was not immediately clear when or how the attack took place, who was responsible or what other information may have been compromised.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said it was studying the situation and its impact on the UK, the first country where the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been deployed.