Leo Varadkar 'encouraged' after Covid update call with Irish-based pharma giants

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar met with Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Regeneron, Sanofi and Janssen Sciences.

Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister Leo Varadkar has said he was “encouraged” after meeting, virtually, with a number of pharmaceutical giants developing vaccines or therapeutic treatments in Ireland.

Mr Varadkar met with Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Regeneron, Sanofi and Janssen Sciences; focusing on work they have done in Ireland to assist in the treatment of Covid-19.

“Ireland is a really attractive location for bio-pharma and other high-tech companies to invest and with all of these major global companies based here, we have a real role to play in finding treatments and a vaccine for this virus," the Tánaiste said.

Mr Varadkar's meeting with the companies coincided with Europe’s drugs regulator starting an early review of an experimental Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.

The move potentially speeds up the shot’s assessment and could reduce the length of time it takes to get it to market.

Called a “rolling review,” the process will allow the European Medicines Agency to look at how the vaccine is performing in real time as data emerges from trials, instead of waiting for the drugmakers to submit everything at once.

-additional reporting Bloomberg