STOCKHOLM, May 27 (Reuters) – The European Union is working on a joint purchase agreement for monkeypox vaccines and antivirals, as cases of Africa’s generally endemic viral disease are piling up in Europe and beyond. over there.
A broad consensus was reached in principle with member states for the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) to acquire medical countermeasures on its behalf as soon as possible, a European Commission spokesman told Reuters. which was confirmed by a report in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
The EU is in talks to buy the Imvanex vaccine from Bavarian Nordic (BAVA.CO) as well as the antiviral tecovirimat, developed by SIGA Technologies (SIGA.O) based in the United States, the document says, citing the vaccine coordinator of Sweden Richard Bergstrom. Read more
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Bergstrom said no contract had yet been signed with any of the companies.
“But it will go fast. We should have a contract ready in a week or so and maybe some limited deliveries in June,” the newspaper was quoted as saying.
A Bavarian Nordic spokesman confirmed that HERA had contacted the Danish biotechnology company regarding its vaccine.
“We have had several calls with HERA … we have no idea when there will be an agreement. It is not up to us to say when there will be an agreement, there are two parties involved,” the spokesman said.
If an agreement was actually reached, Bavarian Nordic had enough supply to meet demand, he added.
Smallpox viruses and smallpox viruses are closely related.
The Bavarian Nordic vaccine has official European approval for smallpox, although doctors may prescribe it off the label for smallpox. Read more
SIGA’s tecovirimat treatment, under the TPOXX brand, has European approval for smallpox, monkeypox and bovine smallpox.
World health authorities have been monitoring more than 200 suspected and confirmed cases of generally mild viral infection in some 20 countries since early May. Read more
Symptoms of monkeypox, which can include fever, distinctive rashes, and pus-filled skin lesions, can last two to four weeks, but often resolve on their own.
The virus variant involved in the current outbreak is believed to kill a small fraction of those infected.
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Report by Simon Johnson in Stockholm and Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Nick Macfie
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