---
title: "Pfizer Says Some Vaccine Documents Accessed in EMA Hack"
description: "Pfizer Inc. said some documents it had submitted to Europe’s top drug regulator regarding its Covid-19 vaccine had been accessed in a cyber-attack on the agency."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-12-09-pfizer-says-some-vaccine-documents-accessed-in-ema-hack-2/"
published: "2020-12-09T21:59:39"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 296
---

# Pfizer Says Some Vaccine Documents Accessed in EMA Hack

> Pfizer Inc. said some documents it had submitted to Europe’s top drug regulator regarding its Covid-19 vaccine had been accessed in a cyber-attack on the agency.

By Bloomberg · Published 9 December 2020, 23:59 SAST

## Content

By Timothy Annett

Dec 9, 2020, 9:06 PM - Updated on Dec 9, 2020, 9:49 PM

Word Count: 287

(Bloomberg) --

The U.S. drugmaker and German partner BioNTech SE said in a statement they had been told by the European Medicines Agency that some documents relating to the regulatory submission for their vaccine that had been stored on the EMA server had been unlawfully accessed.

The companies said that none of their systems had been breached in connection with the incident and that “we are unaware that any study participants have been identified through the data being accessed.”

The companies said EMA informed them that the attack would have no effect on the timing of the vaccine review.

Pfizer shares were down 2.3% to $41.50 at 2:35 p.m. in New York.

The European Medicines Agency issued a [brief statement](https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/cyberattack-european-medicines-agency) Wednesday saying that it had been attacked and had “swiftly launched a full investigation, in close cooperation with law enforcement and other relevant entities.” It declined further comment.

Since the pandemic began, hackers tied to Russia, China and North Korea have been accused of targeting companies working on Covid-19 research. In November, for instance, Microsoft Corp. said [hackers in Russia and North Korea](https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/11/13/health-care-cyberattacks-covid-19-paris-peace-forum/) had targeted seven “prominent” companies working on vaccines and treatment research. Microsoft, which didn’t identify the companies, said the majority of the attacks were blocked.

In July, the U.K., U.S. and Canadian governments [accused Russian](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-16/u-k-says-russians-are-trying-to-steal-covid-19-vaccine-research) intelligence of attempting to steal private information from researching racing to develop a vaccine. And in May, the U.S. government [warned](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-13/u-s-warns-of-chinese-hackers-targeting-virus-research-groups) that hackers working for the Chinese government were trying to steal research on vaccines and treatments from U.S. health care, pharmaceutical and research organizations.

(Updates with additional background on hack starting in sixth paragraph)

© 2020 Bloomberg L.P.