The EU medicines agency EMA has started the test procedure for a new vaccine against Covid-19. Skycovion was developed by the South Korean company SK Bioscience. The EMA announced on Thursday in Amsterdam that an application for approval had been submitted. The company has presented data on its effectiveness against the corona virus as well as on safety and quality.
The EMA experts are now examining the data and will then decide on a recommendation for conditional market approval. After a positive recommendation from the EMA, the EU Commission still has to agree – but that is considered a formality.
According to the EMA, the vaccine contains tiny particles of the virus’s spike protein. After the vaccination, the body should recognize these proteins as foreign bodies and produce antibodies and T cells. In the event of an infection with the corona virus, the immune system should recognize the spike proteins and fight the virus. It is unclear to what extent this vaccine also protects against the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Six vaccines against the coronavirus are currently approved in the EU. Two of these preparations were also adapted to variants of the virus. However, the EMA experts are still checking the data for these adapted preparations. It is still unclear when the decision will be made.
