Prognosis
U.K. Accelerates Reviews of Pfizer and Astra-Oxford Vaccines
- Rolling reviews will help shots get approved more quickly
- U.K. could clear a Covid-19 vaccine for use ahead of Europe
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The U.K.’s drug regulator has started accelerated reviews of Covid-19 vaccines under development from Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc, as Britain gets ready to approve the first successful shot as quickly as possible.
The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency started a so-called rolling review of the Pfizer vaccine in recent weeks, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who didn’t want to be identified because the procedure hasn’t been announced publicly. The agency is also conducting an expedited review of Astra’s vaccine, which the company is co-developing with the University of Oxford, a spokesman for Astra confirmed.