The European Medicines Agency said on Thursday that a vaccine for the novel coronavirus could be ready in a year’s time under an “optimistic” scenario, based on trials that are underway.
The Amsterdam-based EU agency also minimized fears expressed by the WHO that the virus might never go away, saying it would be “surprised” if a vaccine was not found eventually.
“We can see the possibility if everything goes as planned that some of them (vaccines) could be ready for approval in a year from now,” Marco Cavaleri, the EMA’s head of vaccines strategy, told a video news conference.
“These are just forecasts based on what we are seeing. But again I have to stress that this is a best-case scenario, we know not all vaccines that come into development may make it to authorisation, and may disappear,” he added.
“We know also that there may be delays.”
The EMA approves medicines for the 27-nation European Union.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the EMA said it had sped up the process for authorising vaccines, which it said can often take 10 to 15 years to approve.
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