A lower first dose boosted the vaccine’s efficacy result, but AstraZeneca has conceded that this has to be proven in a separate trial. In the meantime, the UK government has asked the regulator to assess the vaccine under a special health emergency provision.

Australian patients with phototoxicity due to the rare condition EPP will now have their first treatment option – provided the drug's developer, Clinuvel, secures reimbursement under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

European Commission proposals for strengthening intellectual property protections in the EU, particularly the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) system, have been broadly welcomed by the European pharmaceutical industry federation EFPIA. But the medical NGO, MSF, says the SPC proposals run counter to the commission’s own efforts to improve access to medicines.

The EU has published an action plan that is intended to upgrade the bloc’s intellectual property framework while ensuring that goods such as medicines and vaccines are made as widely available as possible. The initiative is part of wide-ranging plans to support member states’ recovery from the pandemic crisis and help ensure the EU’s resilience to future health threats.

Under EU rules, once a medicinal product has been placed on the market in a country of the EEA – the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway 

The EU pharmaceutical strategy published on 25 November will be the first step in a “complete overhaul” of the medicines legislative framework to be proposed in about two years’ time, says the European Commission.