The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has extended its approval of the smallpox vaccine Imvanex to include protection against monkeypox. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended that Imvanex also be approved for the protection of adults against monkeypox, the EMA said on Friday in The Hague.
The vaccine from the German-Danish manufacturer Bavarian Nordic has been approved in the EU for the prevention of smallpox since 2013. The EMA justified the expansion by saying that both virus variants are similar.
Imvanex is a third generation smallpox vaccine that is better tolerated. According to the EMA, the side effects are mild, so the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.
