Data on Covid-19 vaccine accessed as EU drug regulator hacked

The EMA is evaluating requests for conditional marketing authorisation for coronavirus vaccines (Justin Tallis/PA)

German company BioNTech and US pharmaceutical company Pfizer say data on their coronavirus vaccine were “unlawfully accessed” during a cyberattack on the servers of the European Medicines Agency.

The Amsterdam-based agency, which is considering requests for conditional marketing authorisation for several coronavirus vaccines to be used in the 27-nation European Union, said earlier on Wednesday that it had been the target of a cyberattack.