EU regulator begins reviewing Spanish COVID vaccine booster

Tuesday's announcement by the European Union's drug regulator indicated that it had begun an accelerated review of a coronavirus booster manufactured by Hipra in Spain.

30 March 2022 Wednesday 10:06
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EU regulator begins reviewing Spanish COVID vaccine booster

In a statement, the European Medicines Agency stated that it is based on preliminary data from laboratory research and research in adults. It compared Hipra's booster shot with the vaccine made in Pfizer-BioNTech. Early results indicate that Hipra may be effective against COVID-19, which includes the highly infectious omicron variant.

Hipra, a protein-based vaccine, is manufactured using the same technology as Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. It was approved by the EMA in December. It contains two forms of coronavirus' spike proteins that were created in a laboratory. These are meant to stimulate an immune response after a person has been immunized.

Hipra is meant to act as a booster shot for people who have received a vaccine containing a messenger RNA or a vector-based virus, such as those made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Hipra's focus has been on vaccines for animals until now.

Scientists believe that different vaccine types can boost the immune system. Many countries have adopted a mix-and-match strategy for COVID-19 vaccination.

Hipra is reported to have sold millions of its vaccines to Vietnam. It has also estimated that it could produce 600 million doses each year.