BERLIN (Dow Jones) – Wolf-Dieter Ludwig, Chairman of the Drugs Commission of the German Medical Association and member of the Management Board of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), criticizes Health Minister Jens Spahn’s demand to accelerate the approval of the Covid vaccine.
“I am surprised that politicians like Jens Spahn, who do not know the requirements for approval in detail, go public with statements about faster vaccination approval,” said Ludwig of Wirtschaftswoche. Ludwig pointed out the problems that arose with the drug Remdesivir: “With Remdesivir, we have seen how inappropriate accelerated approval can be.”
The EMA approved the drug in June for the treatment of Covid patients before the World Health Organization (WHO) advised against it in October due to side effects. According to EMA insiders, the EU member states had put pressure on the EMA to quickly approve remdesivir.
Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) called on Twitter on Sunday that the EMA should approve the Covid vaccine from Pfizer and Biontech “as quickly as possible” and added: “Every day that we can start vaccinating earlier reduces suffering and protects the particularly vulnerable . ”
The European deputy Peter Liese, a party friend of Spahn, contradicts: “With a faster admission, we would not be at a different point in the pandemic in spring.”
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DJG / aat / mgo
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 14, 2020 10:37 ET (15:37 GMT)