Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine set to get EU nod in early March

The European Union’s medicines regulator is expected to recommend drugmaker Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine on March 11, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, a move that could give the region its fourth coronavirus vaccine.

The US drugmaker said earlier this month it had submitted a conditional marketing application for its vaccine with the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Last week, the regulator said it could issue an opinion by mid-March on whether to approve J&J’s vaccine under a speedy review.

The EU has so far approved vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca Plc-Oxford.

The European Commission has said supply bottlenecks that hampered the launch of vaccination programmes will soon clear, but member states want assurances that the delivery of shots will be smoother and that new vaccines can be produced quickly to cope with new variants.

The EMA did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.