The makers of the Russian corona vaccine Sputnik-V demand an apology from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Christa Wirthumer-Hoche of the EMA had advised not to approve the drug in advance through an urgent procedure. She compared that to “Russian roulette”.
That comment shot the makers of the drug in the wrong way. “We demand a public apology from EMA’s Christa Wirthumer-Hoche for her negative comments about EU member states directly approving Sputnik-V,” they complain about their official Twitter account. “The EMA has not allowed such statements to be made about other vaccines. These kinds of statements are inappropriate and undermine the credibility of the EMA and the review process.”
Sputnik-V has yet to be approved by the European regulator, but some EU countries have already ordered drug doses. Hungary has also already started using the Russian vaccine.
Wirthumer-Hoche had been asked in an interview whether her home country Austria should also approve the drug itself, but she absolutely did not like that. “Sputnik-V could potentially be marketed in the future if we have researched the necessary data,” she added.
The EMA has only approved Western vaccines so far. These are resources from Pfizer / BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna. The makers of Sputnik-V say their drug has already been approved in 46 countries worldwide.