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(CNN) – Pfizer and BioNTech announced that hackers who attacked the European medical regulator had “illegally accessed” documents related to the coronavirus vaccine. They said their own systems, including the participants’ personal data, had not been breached.
“The European Medicines Agency (EMA) informed us that the agency has been the target of a cyberattack and that some documents related to the regulatory submission of Pfizer and BioNTech’s candidate vaccine against covid-19, BNT162b2, had been illegally accessed, that had been stored on an EMA server, ”Pfizer’s German partner BioNTech said in a statement on Wednesday.
The company stressed that none of BioNTech or Pfizer’s own systems had been breached during the cyberattack and that “they did not know if the study participants had been identified through the data that was accessed.”
“At this time, we await further information on the EMA investigation and will respond appropriately and in accordance with EU law,” the statement said.
“The EMA has assured us that the cyber attack will not have any impact on the schedule for review,” he added.
On Wednesday, the EMA said it had launched a full investigation into the cyber attack and was in “close cooperation” with law enforcement officials and other relevant entities.
Neither the BioNTech nor the EMA statement provided further details on how the cyber attack took place or who was responsible.
