EU drug regulator recommends clearing vaccine for monkeypox

LONDON (AP) — The European Medicines Agency says the smallpox vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic should also be authorized against monkeypox as an outbreak of the once-rare disease sickens people across Europe. In a statement on Friday, the European Union drug regulator said its recommendation was based on animal studies that suggest the vaccine protects non-human primates from monkeypox. Of the more than 15,000 monkeypox cases reported worldwide, nearly 70% are in Europe. Doses of the Bavarian Nordic vaccine are extremely limited. American regulators already cleared the vaccine, known as Imvanex in Europe but sold as Jynneos in the United States, for use against monkeypox.