Drugmakers Meet With EMA on Vaccines Targeting Omicron

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is meeting with four leading COVID-19 vaccine makers to discuss potential trials for shots targeting the fast-spreading Omicron variant, as reported in the Financial Post.

Representatives of Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax will sit down with the EMA in coming days for talks on the matter, said Emer Cooke, the agency's executive director.

"What we still don't know is whether omicron is going to be replaced by something else, which could mean that you could put all your focus on Omicron, only to realize — by the time the vaccines were ready — that something else was more prevalent," said Cooke.

The discussions will precede a virtual meeting scheduled for Wednesday between a global group of regulators, co-chaired by the EMA and FDA that will seek to improve coordination between agencies on approaches to the trials, she said.

Cooke said "[we're] trying to see what we can do right now to be prepared for where we think we might be once the trials come through."