After Pfizer, Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Data Accessed In Cyberattack

Moderna Inc MRNA said documents related to its COVID-19 vaccine were targeted by hackers in an attack on the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Reuters reported Monday.

What Happened: The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based vaccine maker said its submissions to the EMA didn't contain any information pertaining to the identity of its vaccine study participants.

Last week, the EMA was attacked by hackers who accessed documents related to the coronavirus vaccine of Pfizer Inc PFE and its German partner BioNTech SE BNTX.

Why It Matters: The EMA’s scientific committee is due to provide its assessment on Moderna’s vaccine on Jan. 12 and for Pfizer’s COVID-19 candidate on Dec. 29.

Moderna was previously said to be the target of Chinese government-linked hackers and an attempt was reportedly made to extract data from its computer network.

Documents extracted in the earlier attack on the EMA could be valuable for countries and companies who are competing to develop a vaccine, Reuters reported separately.

Price Action: Moderna shares closed nearly 1.2% lower at $155.07 on Monday and fell 0.17% in the after-hours session.